


Disappearing to Live a Quiet Life

by DayDreamBeliever277



Series: Venom's Infinity Saga [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Bruce Banner Returns After Avengers: Age of Ultron, Crossover, Eddie Brock Needs A Hug, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Good Eddie, Good Venom, High School, Hungry Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Hurt Eddie Brock, Irondad, Male Pronouns for Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Marvel Universe, Minor Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, New York, Other, POV Alternating, POV Avengers, POV Eddie Brock, POV Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Possessive Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Black Panther (2018), Pre-Doctor Strange (2016), Pre-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Protective Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Sad Eddie Brock, Venom Crossover, venom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-08-16 16:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 53,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16498733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DayDreamBeliever277/pseuds/DayDreamBeliever277
Summary: Eddie and Venom decide to move back to New York. After the incident with the Life Foundation, Eddie longs for anonymity. What better place to disappear in then a big city? One where time never stands still. Hero’s grow and villains come and go. New York  is still enthralled with the big fight between the Avengers. But all those hero’s keep attracting problems. Follow Eddie en Venom on their journey to a quiet life?





	1. A Peculiar Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and Venom decide to move back to New York. After the incident with the Life Foundation, Eddie longs for anonymity. What better place to disappear in then a big city? One where time never stands still. Hero’s grow and villains come and go. New York who is still enthralled with the big fight between the Avengers. But all those hero’s keep attracting problems. Follow Eddie en Venom on their journey to a quiet life?
> 
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

 

The sky was clear of any clouds. The stars were shining bright and New York City was still bustling with life. After the incident with the Life Foundation back at San Francisco, Eddie moved right back to New York. Informing Anne and Dan about his decision, promising he would keep them updated, he quit what was left of his job after what was probably his last interview with Kasady. After that, he packed his few belongings and his motorcycle together and bid San Francisco goodbye.  
  
Looking for a new job was difficult, after his little accident all those years ago **,** and now with what had happened with the Life Foundation, Eddie decided to lay low. After accepting a job at a little paper company, Eddie was set for now.     
  
**_Now you can keep buying us tatertotsss…_**  
  
“I did not take a job so I can keep feeding you tatertots V!” Eddie argued back.  
  
**_‘We’ Eddie! And we like tatertotsss_** ** _._**  
  
Eddie started, “I know we do!” shaking a little from the laughter that bubbled up his – no ‘their’ – throat.     
  
Venom appeared on Eddie’s shoulder, facing him **“Why did we move here Eddie?”** Venom asked his tongue longing out of his mouth. Eddie looked back to the view of New York, gazing at all the little twinkling lights.

 

“Because here, we can disappear V. New York is a big city, and there is always something going on. Besides, it’s also filled with bad guys.” Eddie grinned.  
  
**“FOOD!”** Venom proclaimed showing his teeth.

 

“That’s right buddy, New York, an all you can eat buffet,” Eddie said with a big smile and standing up, patting his hands on his legs and forcing his body to stand. Together, they stood on the edge of the roof of their flat. With one last look over the city, Eddie turned and sighed “Let’s get going V, tomorrow's a new day.”  
  
**“Eddie,** **incoming.”** Venom growled, rippling under Eddie’s skin.  
  
“MISTER! Please don’t! There’s no need!”  
  
“What the...?” Eddie turned around, and someone clad in red and blue was flying towards them.  
  
“Please mister, don’t jump! I’m sure there are still people who love you,” yelled the red and blue clothed person at them, landing right in front of them. “Please mister, I beg you!” Venom strung tight underneath Eddies skin and it took Eddie everything to keep Venom from lunging at the person.  
  
“I’m not going to jump” Eddie interrupted the man... boy? It sounds like a boy? Eddie wondered.

 

 **_Smells like fresh meat,_ **Venom interjected.

 

_For shit’s sake V, were not going to eat him._

 

**_But we could._ **

 

 _Yeah but we’re not gonna!_  
  
Eddie took a good look at the man in front of him. “You’re not gonna jump? Thank God! I find it difficult to talk people out of it you know, it’s…” the boy trailed off.

 

“Well lucky for you, you don’t have to talk me out of it. Kid.” Eddie added as an afterthought. “So, Spiderman, I presume?’ Eddie asked.

 

“What? Oh yeah, that’s me,” the kid almost shouted. “You’ve heard of me? That’s awesome!”  
  
It was like watching a hyperactive puppy. **_Yeah... but we can’t eat those either, right Eddie?_ **

 

 _No, we can’t V._  “Yeah kid, I’ve heard about you. I’m a reporter. I have to know my stuff, ya know?’ Eddie said amused, while talking to Venom in his mind. He had gotten better at multitasking these days.  
  
“So, if you’re not going to jump, I better take my leave then?” Spiderman said uncertainly.

 

“Well I had decided that going to bed was a good idea, but,” Eddie thought for a moment “I wouldn’t mind some company, if you have the time? Maybe I can do a little interview?”  
  
“You mean it? That’s awesome! I mean...” Spiderman cleared his throat, “Yeah sounds cool, I have the time.”

 

Eddie looked amused and sat back down. “Alright, so who is Spiderman behind the mask?”  
  
“Aw man I can’t tell you that – then everyone knows!” Spiderman said, startled and fluttering his hands around.

 

“I’m just kidding you kid, no worries.” Eddie smiled, feeling Venom move around his chest settling somewhere over his heart, content.  
  
Eddie shifted in his place, finding a relaxed position staring at the city. “So, can you tell me what Spiderman does on a night like this? Not just prevent people from jumping I hope?” he questioned. “Seeing as New York is still a little shocked by the fight between Iron Man and their beloved Captain America… and didn’t I read somewhere that Spiderman, saved New York from a big gang of weapons terrorists? You must be busy.” Eddie said turning back to the kid.  
  
“Oh no! No, I’m nothing special really. But I did steal Captain America’s shield.” the kid grinned squatting down on the roof.

 

“No way!” Eddie laughed. Waving his arms around, Spiderman told Eddie all about his fight against Captain America. Eddie nodded and settled back. _Never thought this would happen._ Eddie thought to Venom.

 

 ** _Yes, the spider is a real surprise,_** rumbled the symbiote back, the sound vibrating through Eddie.

  
_Well I think it’s a good thing... Yeah, a good thing._ And with that Eddie turned his attention back to this hero. New York's friendly neighborhood spider. Sounds like a good title. Venom grumbled. Eddie huffed a laugh, listened and gazed at the stars, wondering about heroes and their life stories.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my first fan fiction. I'm no native English speaker so any fault is mine.  
> If you see anything, please notify me and I will try to correct it.  
> I also don't own any characters.


	2. Never a Boring Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: maybe some gore and specific description of blood/death?  
> Warning: almost rape, nothing specific.  
> I have no idea how to do a warning, but I tried!
> 
> Oh yeah, I did not explain but the bold words are spoken by Venom.  
> The bol cursive words are also spoken by Venom but then in Eddie's mind?  
> The normal cursive words are Eddie speaking inside his own mind.  
> I hope everyone understands, I'm really no good at explaining things... 
> 
> Enjoy the story!
> 
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

Eddie’s week had been hell, literally hell. First, they get partnered up with a workaholic. Second, their motorcycle got a flat tire. And third of all, they miss Mrs. Chen and Anne and Dan. So little bit depressed they decide to go snacking, or in this case, Venom’s kind of snacking. **“Eddie, it’s been too long, gonna eat a lot of bad guys, maybe even some brainsss…”** Venom hissed at Eddie.

 

“God V, don’t remind me of your eating habits,” Eddie answered disgusted, throwing his hands up.    
  
**“Pussy,”** Venom replied, appearing on Eddie’s left shoulder.

 

“Just because you like something doesn’t mean I have to like it,” grumbled Eddie. “Now let’s go, I wanna get this over with.” After he said this, Venom erupted all over Eddie, making him feel strong and safe.  
  
Venom started running and jumping over the roofs of New York, chasing smells and sounds alike. They loved moving through the city like this. They moved faster than any person walking around as they flew across the rooftops. After a while, they found one rapist and two burgers – whom Venom ate happily, and satisfied, his feelings resonated back to Eddie. **“Satisfying,”** Venom hissed, after dropping Eddie back off on the roof of their apartment, before slowly disappearing back into Eddie.    
  
**_We are like those heroes, right Eddie?_** Venom asked, insecure.

 

“What? Oh!” Eddie remembered their talk with their new working partner, Marc. They had discussed about whether or not Captain America had the right to look all over the country for some old friend. And after that, about the lives the Avengers had saved while doing their missions and the troubles they had caused, but also the good things that had come out of those decisions.    
  
Eddie remembered the way Venom had torn into those guys they had eaten, how they had ripped apart skin and muscle. The taste of blood on their tongue and the crunch of bones underneath their teeth. Those things did not even come close to being a hero.    
  
The victim from the rapist they had saved had been terrifyingly quiet. Venom had found her thanks to her screams, which had been resonating through the alley. After taking one look they had jumped down and ripped into the man. The woman, they had rescued had looked on with a blank look into her eyes. After Venom was done eating the man, he had slowly disappeared back into Eddie, leaving Eddie alone with the traumatized woman.    
  
Looking back, Eddie would've preferred that the woman to not stopped screaming. Now, any sound he made sounded awfully loud. “Ma’am?” Eddie had silently asked. “Ma’am, are you alright, do you want me to call an ambulance or a cab?” Slowly, Eddie had moved closer, hands in front of him trying to make himself look non-threatening, but not knowing what to do, exactly. Taking a closer look at her, Eddie had noticed that her clothes had been torn, but she had still been wearing pants. She had also been dry heaving and taking very short breaths, on the edge of hyperventilating. Eddie had become very concerned, when all of a sudden, the woman stood up, startling Eddie and making him move backwards.

 

“I’m fine, he didn’t get too far,” she had answered back in a clipped tone. Turning around, stumbling on her heels, she had left the dark alleyway. Eddie had convinced Venom of following the woman until she got back home safely.    
  
On their way back, Venom had noticed some burglars trying to break into a house. Venom had quickly swept down and devoured the first man before he could even make a sound. His buddy was less lucky and saw all of Venoms terrifying form. With a strong hand Venom had gripped the man by the throat and bitten the guy’s head straight off. Eddie had gotten a bit sick at the sight of it, seeing the white of the bone sticking through the skin. Looking back on that incident, maybe Eddie should have stopped Venom from eating those guys – they weren’t really evil, but the day had just been awful, and they hadn’t eaten in so long... the hunger gnawing at their stomach, and in the end, they had saved that woman, right? They had even made sure she got home safe. “Yeah V, we are alike... in our own weird way.” Eddie answered back awkwardly.

 

 **“Our way, yesss,”** Venom hissed, satisfied and settling Eddie’s shoulders like a shawl.    
  
They turned around, looking back at the city. “You know, I will never get sick of this sight. But I wish we could also see the stars. That would be awesome you know?” Eddie said while sitting back down on the edge. “And with you I’m not even afraid of heights. Well just a little bit less afraid, I guess maybe.” Eddie looked back over the edge. “No, no still afraid.” Eddie mumbled in himself.

 

 **“Hmmm, humans, we will never fully understand,”** Venom joked, disappearing and settling somewhere just under Eddie left lung.    
  
“Oh, I know you love me V. Don’t deny it you big sap.” Eddie poked the place where Venom had settled, feeling the symbiote rustle around. “Do you think we might meet that kid again?” Eddie said, shivering a little bit from the cold, not really expecting an answer back.

 

 **“Who knows.** **Not all is written in the stars.”** Venom replied, reforming half over Eddie’s chest, keeping him warm.

 

“Whoah, did you just go all poetic on me buddy?”

 

 **“No, I did not.”** Venom groaned and slapping at Eddie’s hand which was still poking at him.    
  
“Of course, you didn’t.” Eddie laughed and stood up. With one last look over their shoulder, they turned back, heading inside for some beer and tatertots.

 

 **“With chocolate,** **Eddie.”**

 

“With chocolate, V.”    


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My second chapter and chapter three is in the making! Thank you all so very much for the kudos! :D 
> 
> Important message:  
> I had not warned people about the suicide scene, but if I have offended some people, my apologies. I did not mean anything by it. 
> 
> I also tried to do a warning, but I didn't really know how to describe things...  
> Also if you see any mistakes, please notify me and I will do my best to correct them!


	3. quiet nights don’t exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: little blood
> 
> So will they finaly meet face to face?
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

Another long day at work found them on their balcony with a beautiful view of the brick wall of the building next to theirs.    
  
Together with Marc, their work partner, they had chased a lead about Iron Man having a secret relationship with some secret woman. And after searching the whole afternoon (and through the whole city) for any clues or tips, Eddie knew with all his experience one hour later that Iron Man’s secret lover did not exist.    
  
But Marc did not believe him and had insisted on going on. The result had been Eddie racing through the city, on his motorcycle, with Marc behind him screaming in his ear to go slower. Venom had kept quiet through the day, but his annoyance was felt clear through their bond.    
  
So, after Marc got it through his thick skull that there was no secret lover and Iron Man was not cheating on Pepper Potts, they dropped Marc at the office and decided to call it a day. While racing home, they stopped at a Chinese restaurant for takeout and raced back to their apartment.    
  
So here they were, sitting back and eating their food with their feet up. Venom too, was enjoying the food judging by the smacking sounds he was making. “Argh V, I really don’t wanna go to work tomorrow,” Eddie whined, leaning back in his chair his hands behind his head supporting it after a long day at work. 

 

**“We could always eat Marc.”** Venom grumbled back, not stopping his smacking sounds. Eddie took a good look and Venom was literally inhaling his takeout. 

 

“So maybe we need to eat Chinese food more often?” Eddie mumbled, his thoughts directing back to this morning. He wasn’t afraid to zone out for a moment, knowing Venom would keep them safe, and who would attack them in their own apartment... well balcony for the moment.    
  
While Eddie was zoning out, Venom kept on eating. After he had finished what was left of the takeout, he settled on Eddies lap, purring contently. Eddie listened to the sound and almost nodded off, was it not for Venom violently moving them, suddenly and almost over the railing of the balcony, catching what was quickly falling down.     
  
“What the hell?!” Eddie yelled, completely taken by surprise, his upper body hanging half over the balcony. Venom, now completely covering Eddie save for his face, growls with effort and slowly lifted them and whatever he caught back on the balcony. 

 

**“Looks like spiders can’t fly, Eddie** .” Venom rumbled agitated. 

 

“What? Who is that?” Eddie took a good look at what, better who, Venom was holding. “Hey, isn’t that the Spiderkid?” Eddie asked, disbelievingly.     
  
**“Think you can hold him now?”** Venom asked, after he righted them all up, holding the body in bridal style. 

 

“Probably. Kid seems like he doesn’t weigh anything.” Eddie answered back, and Venom slowly disappeared back inside Eddie, looking through his – their – eyes at the kid. “Well looks like he is unconscious, that’s good. He probably would have freaked out if he saw you V,” Eddie said jokingly, but it looked like he still had hurt Venoms feeling, for Venom didn’t answer back.  _ ‘Hey V, you know I didn’t mean anything bad by it... you like the kid already?’ _ Eddie asked curiously, now interested by Venom’s silence. 

 

 ** _‘He’s a hero Eddie, just like us, he saves people, Eddie. He tried to save us too.’_** Venom spoke quietly in his mind, moving restlessly inside of him. **_‘We like him.’_**   
  
‘ _Yeah, we do…’_ Eddie thought while moving the kid inside of their apartment and laying him down on the couch. They were still staring at the kid and Eddie started worrying. “He’s not waking up…” Eddie stated, worried, and he sat down next to the kid. Looking over his body, Eddie now noticed the blood on the kids' leg. Seeing as the kid was almost fully dressed in red, the blood had gone unnoticed by Eddie.    
  
“Shit!” Eddie said out loud while taking a closer look at the leg, now carefully touching around to look for the wound. _‘I’m sorry kid, I know you wanna stay anonymous, but I really need to take a look at that injury.’_ Moving back to the kids’ face, Eddie took off the kid's mask, now standing eye to eye with a sickly pale face of a young boy. On his face, a big bruise already forming and framed by brown curl, his eyes closed tight.    
  
After figuring out how to get the kid out of that ridiculous suit, he got a good look at the leg wound. “Well that looks like shit,” Eddie said shocked, because genuinely, the leg was a mess, and broken too. Little bits of bone were poking through the skin. “Oh man... probably should take the kid to a hospital.” Eddie said knowing the kid wouldn’t like that. 

 

_ ‘ _ **_We can fix that Eddie,’_ ** Venom spoke, while moving through Eddie. 

 

“We can?!” Eddie answered surprised back. “How?”    
  
Venom took control of Eddie’s body and moved their right hand on the kids’ leg. **_‘Because we’re heroes_** **_Eddie_** **.** ** _’_** Eddie felt Venom move through their right arm, rippling down and into the kids’ leg. At first it looked like nothing was happening, then with a loud snap, the bone was pulled right and then Venoms black form appeared covering the wound. After a minute or two Venom pulled back and slowly crawled back up Eddie’s arm. Venom sank back into Eddie’s skin and moved next to Eddie’s kidney, tucking himself into a little space. 

 

“Wow Venom..., just wow! I didn’t know you could do that.” Eddie almost yelled, standing up abruptly and pacing through the room. “How did you do that?” Eddie really wanted to know. 

 

**_‘Same way I heal you Eddie, don’t you remember the motorcycle accident?’_ ** Eddie thought back at the time he and Venom first met and when the Life Foundation came knocking on their door. And then they were running on their motorcycle, chased by the Life Foundation, they had evaded the cars, crashing the bike but standing. Back then Eddie had thought they were safe, that they had made it. But then that car crashed right into them, making them fly through the air and landing them with a smack on the ground.     
  
He remembered the sound of bones breaking, of blood flowing through open wounds and seeping into the ground. He had blacked out for a second, but then he was standing, and he felt his broken bones being pulled together. His body moving without his control and then being surround in inky black. The look on the guy’s face when they had grabbed him by the throat….   
  
Eddie shook himself out of his memories, looking back at the kid.  _ ‘Thank you for fixing him up, Venom.’ _ He felt Venom preen under the statement. Eddie sighed, and sank back down in the chair next to the couch. “This is going to be a long night, V,” Eddie said while keeping an eye on the kid. “We also should ask for his name... can’t really keep calling him kid the whole time.” 

 

**_‘He looks like a loser Eddie, we could start calling him that?’_ ** Venom suggested innocently. 

 

_ ‘No! We’re not going to. He doesn’t look like... V don’t be mean.’ _ Eddie couldn’t even finish his sentences, completely flustered. Venom shook from laughing, settling just under Eddie's heart and letting a content feeling flow through Eddie.     
  
“We should inform someone about the kid, it’s already late. He should have a cellphone somewhere.” Eddie spoke to Venom, while going through the kids’ clothes, finally finding one. After unlocking it on the third try – Eddie was a reporter, and he learned some tips and tricks while working as one – he went to the call list and found Aunt May on number one. “Alright, here goes nothing.” Eddie mumbled uncertainly, dialing the number.    
  
“Peter? Is that you? Where are you? You are worrying me sick! You come home right now, young man!” The woman’s voice grew frantic at the end. 

 

“Ma'am it’s alright, well not everything but,” Eddie tried to reassure the woman or as he assumed **,** Aunt May. 

 

“What do you mean not everything is alright! Who are you?!” The woman yelled, now more frantic then before. Eddie winced at the tone, keeping the phone away from his ear. 

 

**_‘That is not very reassuring Eddie.’_ **

 

“I know V! Why don’t you try it?” Eddie said miserably, putting the phone back to his ear. “Ma’am, I just want you to know Peter is alright, he’s at my house and well... um.” Eddie didn’t know what to say and just decided to lie. “We forgot the time, and he will be on time tomorrow at school, we promise!” He ended his sentence, fidgeting in his seat.     
  
“‘We’? He better be on time! But who are you, you don’t sound like one of his friends?” This Aunt May sounded distrustful. 

 

“Umm, well uuhhh…” Eddie stammered. “I’m the brother of Peter's friend?” Eddie answered,  unsure, his eyes flying back to the kids’ face. 

 

“Hmmm, they better be at school on time tomorrow. Last question, why are you calling with Peters phone?” The woman asked, still sounding not quite sure of him.

 

“Because I needed your number... and this was the easiest way?” Eddie answered hesitantly, phone now being held in a very sweaty hand. 

 

“Hmph... Fine.” With that the woman ended the call and Eddie let go of his breath, not even noticing he had held it in. 

 

**_‘Very smooth.’_ ** Venom said, drawing the word out.     
  
“Oh, shut up!” Eddie grumbled, standing up and started searching for a blanket. In the end he came back with two blankets and a pillow, covering the kid with one blanket from his head to his toes and shoving the pillow carefully behind the kids’ head. With the other, Eddie made himself comfortable in the chair. 

 

**_Goodnight Eddie._ ** Venom said sounding sleepy and sank back in his place. 

  
“Goodnight, V.” Eddie smiled and closed his eyes.    
  



	4. the early bird gets the worm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long waiting!  
> It was a very busy week, but today I could finaly update. :)
> 
> For all of you who left a message, thank you very much for the comment!  
> It really motivates me and makes me very happy!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter. :D
> 
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

That morning, he didn’t wake up quite the way he would have liked. “My aunt is gonna kill me!” The kid, or Peter, Eddie guessed, was flying through the living room, his hands waving through the air and running circles around the couch picking up his Spiderman onesie and trying to put it on.

 

“Woah kid, what time is it?” Eddie grumbled, now trying to wake up. Still hopping around on one leg, the kid, Peter was now looking at him, totally flabbergasted.    
  
“Well uhm, it’s around 7:30, and I only have half a hour to get to school, and from here it will probably take hours with public transportation. If I use my Spiderman powers it will probably take less, but…” the kid trailed off.

 

“Ugh…” Eddie replied to that, scrubbing his hand over his face and checking his watch. _The kid is right, ugh V, why didn't you wake me up…_

 

_**Because you’re a dumbass heavy sleeper, that’s why Eddie, Venom dissed him through his half-fogged mind.** _

  
  
“Ugghhh... wait, kid! Peter, right? How are you feeling?!” Eddie asked now concerned, thinking back to last night where the kid was bleeding all over his couch.

 

“What do you mean, I feel fine?” Peter answered back confused. He had finally put on his suit only to have it on backwards.

 

“Kid you’re no definition of ‘fine’. You were bleeding all over the couch last night, and you had a pretty nasty bruise too!” Eddie yelled upset, grabbing the kid by the shoulders making him face them.    
  
“Wait…” He said, squinting his eyes and looking at Peter’s face. “Your bruise!” Eddie yelled surprised, letting go of the kid. “It’s gone?!” Eddie looked disbelievingly at the kid.

 

“Uhhmmm... I heal fast?” The kid answered unsure and put on a crooked smile.

 

“Sure, you do and I’m Santa.” Eddie growled, agitated, turning around and walking into the kitchen.

 

 _ **I’m confused Eddie, humans don’t heal that fast right, Eddie?** _  


“No, they don’t V, no they don’t.” Eddie said to Venom, picking up a pan and putting butter in it, not noticing the weird look Peter gave him.

 

“Uhm… Mister…” The kid started unsure, walking after Eddie.

 

“Brock, but you can call me Eddie, kid.’ Eddie answered for him.

 

“Well uhm Eddie, uhhh.. You won’t, right... uh I mean of course you wouldn’t…” Peter rambled, unsure of where to look or what to do.

 

“Don’t worry kid, I won’t tell the world who Spiderman is. Now, how do you like your eggs?” Eddie asked Peter, splitting an egg into the pan.

 

“What?” Peter asked confused, now deciding to take a seat at the kitchen block.

 

“I’m not sending you off to school on an empty stomach, kid. I have done that when I was your age and let me tell you, those days didn’t end well.” Eddie answered the kid, now putting the egg on a slice of bread and offering it to the kid.

 

“Oh wow, thanks?” Peter thanked him and started eating.

 

“No thanks needed kid, when I had my days off, I used to do this for my girlfriend.” After a moment he added, “Ex-girlfriend now.”

 

The kid looked up from his eggs. “I’m sure I ain’t no good girlfriend, mister…”  


_**Hehe, kid got you good Eddie**_.

 

Venom dissed him in his mind. “Oh, shut up you! I didn’t mean it like that.” Eddie said annoyed, and to the kid, “And you, don’t call me ‘mister’. Makes me feel far too old.” Swinging his pan around and putting it away. “But you were right kid, your Aunt May is going to be pissed when you come home, but don’t worry, I saved your ass.” Eddie said grinning around a mouth full of egg.

 

At first the kid looked at him strange, but then, he sat up straight yelling, “What! How do you know my aunt? We only met one night! And I don’t remember telling you about her or giving you her number?” The kid said taken back, having now finished his eggs.

 

“Well, when you came crashing down from the rooftop, I caught you and then you were lying unconscious on my couch. I searched for your cell phone and called your aunt,” Eddie answered, now also finishing his eggs. “I told you, I’m a reporter, kid.”     
  
“Ugh, don’t call me kid! I’m a grown-up, you know. What did you tell my aunt?” The kid said a little insulted, at which Eddie snorted and started shoving the plates into the sink.

 

“I told her I was the big brother of your friend and we lost track of time and now you were crashing at our place.”    
  
“Huh, that’s a good one. I should remember that one.” The kid mumbled, looking down on his watch and springing up. “Oh no oh no, I’m going to be late!” Eddie finished the dishes and walked back to his bedroom and started to rummage through his closet, fishing out a to small t-shirt and pants, throwing them at Peter’s head.

 

“Now, you get dressed normal and so will I and then I drive you to school, alright? There’s no way you can go to school in that,” Eddie said discreetly.    
  
‘Right, you're right,” the kid replied embarrassed, taking the clothes with him into the small bathroom. Eddie quickly changed, too and yelled at the kid to make haste. After another minute, Peter came running out of the bathroom with his suit in hand. “What about–” Peter started, but Eddie cut him off.  

 

“Put them in here,” Eddie said quickly while holding up a plastic bag. And then they were off running down the stairs. When they arrived at the little garage next to the apartment, Peter started worrying. ‘Uh I don’t see any cars in here, Mister– I mean, Eddie.” At that, Eddie grinned evilly at him and pointed at his motorcycle. “Oh no, that’s so cool, I mean... that’s so cool!” Peter let out and caught, just in time, the helmet that was thrown his way. He rapidly climbed on the bike behind Eddie and held on tight. After Eddie was sure Peter was secure, he stepped on the gas, racing out of the garage and into the street. Weaving through the traffic, the gas full open and feeling Venom's excitement racing through their body.

 

_**Faster Eddie.** _

 

“Keep hanging on Peter!” Eddie yelled through his helmet and sped up even faster. Peter let out a startled yelp and tightened his grip.    
  
They made it just in time, just 5 minutes before the bell. The sound of Eddie’s motorcycle made a lot of people look up and stare at them. Looks of surprise and jealousy crossed the watching students faces.  “Thank you! Eddie, we made it! I, uh, don’t have my books but I’m sure I can borrow Ned’s. Thank you!”’ Peter thanked Eddie and started running towards the door. “I will give you your clothes back, I promise!” the kid yelled and disappeared behind the opening and closing doors of the school.    
  
“You're welcome kid.” Eddie smiled, only to be startled by the sound of his cell phone ringing.

 

“Brock! Where are you? You were supposed to be here at 8:00!” Marc shouted angrily through the phone.

 

“Shit!”

 

**Shit.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So today I went to the cinema and saw 'The Crimes Of Grindelwalt'! It was awesome, so much new information!
> 
> Who knows maybe I start a Harry Potter fanfiction next... 
> 
> If you see any fault please let me know! Or if you want to talk about the movie you're also very welcome!


	5. Workdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!  
> Kind of small... but the next chapter isn't!
> 
> Meeting the Avengers... kind of!  
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

“What were you thinking, Eddie?!” Marc exclaimed the moment Eddie stopped in front of him with his motorcycle. 

 

“Uhm, well an emergency happened and…” Eddie started, trying to explain himself to his co-worker. 

 

“No, no, no – no more excuses, Eddie. The big boss gave us another lead on Iron Man! Can you believe it? He really has faith in us, Eddie, and I don’t wanna fuck this up. You know? Besides you look like shit, man. Did you even sleep? I know you.” Marc went on and on, and Eddie zoned out after a while. He took Marc on his bike and rode up to the noted down address. 

 

_ I really hate workaholics… _  Eddie sighed tiredly, feeling Venom move around, trying to comfort him.     
  
Within half an hour, they reached their destination. After half an hour asking around, Eddie wasn’t quite sure if there even was a lead, when he saw Tony Stark leave a building on his left. “Marc?” Eddie called, looking around for his partner, not seeing him anywhere. “Ah fuck it…” Eddie sighed and started walking towards Stark. After setting less than five steps in Starks direction, the garbage can next to Eddie went flying into the sky with a heavy boom.    
  
“What the shit?!” Eddie shouted out, his body twisting and turning away from the blast. At the same time, he felt Venom trying to form around him, but the heat of the blast stopped him from completely forming over Eddie. 

 

**_Eddie, hurts...._ ** Venom hissed in pain, quickly sinking back into Eddie, vanishing from sight. Eddie scuffed backwards and away from the flaming trash can, his eyes flying around looking for Stark and finding him not far from where he first stood. Stark had activated that suit of his, iron armor growing and forming around him. Lasers ready to fire, he too was looking around for danger. Finding his attacker, he saved a few bystanders from another series of explosions. Finding the cause, he powered his suit up and shot off into its direction.     
  
“Holy shit Eddie!” Marc shouted, grabbing Eddie by his shoulder and dragging him up and away. “You could have died!” Marc was still panicking and holding on to Eddie, his grip now hurting him, and moving them away from Stark. 

 

“What are you doing Marc?!” Eddie yelled, breaking from Marcs grip and turning back and running towards his motorcycle. “Make sure to have your camera ready, and get on Marc! We’re going to film!” Eddie grinned starting up his motorbike and letting the engine growl. Marc looked surprised, got his camera ready and jumped on. Eddie, together with Marc, chased after Iron Man, almost flying over the road. They wove in and out of traffic, not stopping for the red light. Marc behind him was screaming into his ears and waving his camera around trying to get a good shot of Iron Man. 

 

**_Eddie, faster._ ** Venom whispered inside his head, and he felt Venom taking control of his hand and throwing the gas full open.     
  
The three of them sped after Iron Man even faster. “That blue car has the bomber inside it!” Marc shouted into Eddie’s ear while positioning his camera on Eddie shoulder and zooming in on the speeding car. Eddie moved his motorcycle to the left. Passing several cars with spooked owners, he heard the wind howl and cut at his face. In their haste to get after Stark, Eddie had forgotten his helmet, he turned around to see if Marc had his on. Breathing a sigh of relief, Marc had indeed put on his helmet, Eddie looked back forwards.  _ Marc better hold that helmet on now... If we crash you can fix me up V, but Marc… _

 

**_Don’t worry about that now Eddie, the chase has started to get interesting._ ** Venom let a pulse of excitement flow through their veins. Eddie looked back up, confused, but now also hearing the sirens. He took a good look around him, noticing three black vans also racing after Stark.     
  
“Who could that be?” Eddie said distracted, focusing back on Stark, seeing him fire his lasers at the car of the bomber, missing by just a hair and almost hitting a civilian car. 

 

“I've seen those before!” Marc yelled behind Eddie, his grip on Eddie tightening and training his camera now on the foremost car of the three. “Get us up close behind the first van!” Marc shouted his instructions and Eddie moved his motorcycle. At that moment the backdoors of the van slammed open and out came no other than the Black Widow. “I knew it! Eddie we are going to be so promoted!” Marc cried out, clapping Eddie on the back, almost falling off and then grabbing Eddie again.     
  
Romanoff rode her motorcycle backwards, only to speed up and bypass the van she had been riding in before. She shot a quick look at them, but then raced off, Eddie started speeding up to, keeping up with her and Marc still filming the whole ride. Suddenly Eddie had to hit the brakes, or else they would have slammed right into a truck, slowing them down a lot and losing speed, which resulted in them riding next to the second black van. Then, the side door on the second van opened, drawing Eddie’s and Marc’s attention and Captain America showed his face, looking straight into Marc’s camera. The look on his face showed his surprise at being confronted directly with Marc’s open mouth and face of disbelief. “It’s Captain America!” Marc screamed out, almost losing his camera due to his enthusiasm.     
  
Eddie heard the sound of sirens grow, he looked back in front of to see the police blocking off the road. The blue car was now drawing near to the blockade, but showing no signs of slowing down. Iron Man had now caught up with the car and swooped down, grabbing the car by the rear bumper, forcing it up, leaving the rear wheels violently spinning in the air. Romanoff reached the car and jumped off her motorcycle and held up her gun, pointing it at the driver's side window, aiming at the bomber. The three black vans, including Captain America, and Eddie and Marc now too caught up with Stark and Romanoff.  **_Heroes_ ** _ ,  _ **_Eddie…_ ** Venom said quietly, moving through Eddie and appearing just below the collar of Eddie’s hoodie, peering over the edge and spying on the Avengers.     
  
By now, all of the traffic around them had stopped moving, and Eddie stopped his bike. Marc jumped off the motorcycle and moved his camera up, trying to get it all on film. Romanoff had forced the bomber, upon whom Iron Man had now also trained his lasers, to get out of the car.  **“Can those hurt us Eddie?”** Venom whispered, looking up at Eddie. 

 

“I rather not find out V…” Eddie mumbled under his breath, his eyes keeping a careful watch on the people in front of him. Captain America walked around the bomber, who held up his hands, and he cuffed those. He led the bomber into the third van. Iron Man now revealed his face and started joking with Black Widow.    
  
Looking at the man, who held his relaxed body languid and held so much confidence, Eddie’s mood soured. “Wow, mister Stark! A word?” Marc half-yelled, half-spoke, speed-walking to Stark and starting an interview which instantly showed their working relationship. Marc gathered the information, and Eddie would work it out later, making it into a readable article. Eddie had decided to avoid any personal interviews, and don’t even start about interviews with heroes. Black Widow immediately moved out of the way, leaving the talking to Stark and climbed inside the third van bypassing Captain America who stepped out of the van. He walked up to Marc, drawing himself up, standing straight, and started telling Marc that the bomber had been their target for a while, but now they had finally captured him. They had used Tony Stark as a decoy, because the bomber apparently hated Stark's guts. “Hmmm, why am I not surprised…” Eddie muttered and sighed, now that the adrenaline had worn off, Eddie felt how tired he was. 

 

**You don’t like Stark Eddie?** Venom whispered, curious. Eddie felt Venom's excitement for the heroes run through him. 

 

“Well it’s not that I hate him V, it’s just that... maybe I’m just jealous.” Eddie sighed, running his hand through his windblown hair. “Stark got a good hand dealt in life... Smart, rich and people like him...”

 

**So completely the opposite... not a loser like us?** Venom asked a little sad, curling around Eddie’s neck like a scarf, out of sight of lurking eyes. 

 

“Not a loser, no V…” Eddie mumbled tiredly, sitting back on his motorcycle.    
  
Marc and Stark were chatting it up, and Eddie stayed in the background. Stark threw, while talking, one look at Eddie, but dismissed him at once.  Marc, Stark and Captain America finished it up and Marc walked back to Eddie, a big smile on his face. “This is even better than a secret lover, Eddie! We’re going to be front page news!” Marc said dreamily, climbing behind him, and Eddie started the bike, driving away from the scene.     
  
Later that night, Eddie finally wrapped up the article, and sending it quickly to his editor. He sighed and sat back in his chair, scratching Venom’s head, who had formed on his lap, almost like a cat. His stomach grumbled, for he had not eaten yet, but...  _ Too tired.... _ Eddie thought, looking at the clock glowing 02:00 AM at him. He was already dozing off when he heard knocking. Eddie frowned. He didn’t know anyone here in New York, having not bothered with making friends as his job constantly needed his attention. “Marc?” Eddie questioned the air, standing up and walking to the door. 

 

 **“Eddie, there is no one behind the door…”** Venom told Eddie, now resting upon his shoulders, Eddie still opened the door, revealing an empty hallway. **“The window,** **Eddie.”** Venom said and quickly disappeared beneath Eddie’s skin, but stayed alert. 

 

“The window?” Eddie said confused, he turned around and slowly walked to the window, which was obscured by the curtain. His hand reached out, and he quickly pulled the curtain to the side. The sight made Eddie let out a high-pitched screech.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to create a cliffhanger, but....
> 
> Thank you all for you comments and I promise next chapter is gonna be bigger!


	6. Looking for a breath of life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a new chapter, but I hope not too boring!
> 
> chapter title's are really dificult....
> 
> This chapter is beta read by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy.

**_Eddie. Eddie!_ **   
  
**_Stop screaming Eddie!_ ** Venom hissed in his mind, moving wildly through his organs to the back of his spine. 

 

“What the–!” Eddie couldn’t even finish his sentence and grabbed the windowsill, struggling to open the window.    
  
“Hello, Mister Brock! Uh, I mean Eddie.” The kid answered gleesome, hanging upside down in that ridiculous suit of his in front of Eddie's window. 

 

“Peter!” Eddie grumbled angrily, but he let the kid in now that he finally got the window open. 

 

**_Pussy. Screamed like a little girl._ ** Venom chuckled. Eddie couldn’t see him but he knew that even though Venom didn’t have them, he was grinning ear to ear. 

 

“Don’t ever do that again! What if people saw you?” Eddie said angrily, a little upset about the scream he had produced, pointing his finger at Peter who had now climbed inside. 

 

“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Peter said innocently, his smile hidden behind his mask. 

 

“Yeah, laugh it up, kid. And I wasn’t scared” Eddie grumbled stepping back into his living room and moving towards the kitchen. He felt Venom move leisurely around his organs. 

 

“Well, that sound you produced, suggested–” Peter started, but Eddie didn’t let him finish.   
  
“–You hungry kid? I know I am,” Eddie quickly asked and let out a nervous chuckle. Then he started loudly rummaging through the cupboards to chase away the silence. Peter now walked into the kitchen to take a seat, realizing it was the same seat he had sat in that morning after he woke up on Eddie’s couch. 

 

“Uhm... yes please, thank you,” Peter answered, shuffling in his seat, looking around Eddies apartment. Aunt May had raised him properly, thank you very much. 

 

“Stop looking, kid. I know my room is a mess.” Eddie sighed and opened a plastic container, dropping the mac and cheese from two days ago into a pan and turning up the stove. He turned around and put a plate and cutlery in front of Peter, seeing him smile shyly at him. 

 

“So, how are you Mister... Eddie?” Peter asked him, nodding and nervously, rummaging through the backpack he had now placed on the table and moving a plastic bag towards Eddie. “I promised to bring back your clothes.”     
  
“Thanks, kid. And ‘Eddie’s fine. No ‘Mister Eddie’, no ‘sir’, no nothing.” Eddie paused, taking the bag and looking back up at Peter. “I should start calling you ‘Peter’, too, hmm?” He said softly, putting the bag down, reaching for the mac and cheese. Eddie divided the food over the two plates, put the pan back and sat down. “So, my day was awful, how about yours?” Eddie asked Peter, trying to start a normal conversation, scooping up some mac and cheese and blowing against it. Thinking how it was just this morning that the two of them officially met, the kid who tried to save him, and whose life he saved from falling of a roof top. Had it really been just one day? 

 

“Well thanks to someone, I was right on time for school today,” Peter said, smiling while taking a bite of the food. 

 

“Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?” Eddie chuckled, burning his tongue. 

 

“Of course not, I’m on midnight patrol!” Peter said, sitting upright and dropping the food off his spoon. 

 

“Really?” Eddie grinned, moving some food around before asking, “Seen any bad guys tonight?”    
  
Peter deflated and sighed. “No, not yet. Nothing exciting. But I heard about what happened with Iron Man today!” Peter finished excited. “Did you know he is my favorite hero?” Peter started rambling about how Ned and he had looked at the news and how Peter had wished to go, but he couldn’t because he had a test to take. “If I had been there, I would have stopped the guy immediately, just like THWIP! and my web would have stopped the car, making it stuck on the ground, you know?” Peter made wild hand movements and imitating how he would have shot his web. Listening to Peter talk made Eddie smile and feel old. 

 

**_Why Eddie?_ **  Venom asked, not understanding the feeling flowing through them. 

 

 _It’s called nostalgia,_ _V, and this is probably how my father must have felt_ _when I was little. I would also start telling about my day and there was no stopping me._

 

**_Hmmm I like listening to the kid he’s so…_ **

 

 _Pure?_ Eddie finished for Venom. Turning his attention back to Peter.   
  
“You know Eddie, if I didn’t have to go to school, I would be doing so much cool stuff. Helping and saving people, catching bad guys…” Peter trailed off, having finished his story while putting his spoon down after he had finished his mac and cheese. 

 

“Well, school is important Peter.’ Eddie reminded the kid. Having also finished his food, he stood up and put the plates into the sink. 

 

“I know, but it is soooo boring,” Peter whined, sitting up and stretching his back, arms up in the air. 

 

Eddie laughed.  “I know, Peter. Maybe tomorrow you'll have more luck in catching some bad guys.” he turned to look at Peter, smiling encouraging. “You know, why don’t you try east of here? There is a sketchy neighborhood a few miles down.” 

 

“You think so?” Peter asked, looking excited but also a little unsure about the info just given to him. 

 

“Yeah Peter, I’m sure, I wouldn’t tell you about it, if I wasn’t sure you couldn’t handle it.” Eddie told Peter, knowing his info was 100% right because the place he told Peter about was also Venom's hunting grounds. 

 

**_Lots of bad guys Eddie, tasty snacks... We are hungry Eddie._ ** Venom told Eddie, moving around Eddie's kidneys and settling down in a little place next to them. 

 

_ We just ate V. _ Eddie sighed, sinking back into his chair, looking up he caught Peter staring at him. Peter's confused stare turned into a big smile. 

 

“You really think so?!” Peter exclaimed happily, jumping up from his chair. 

 

“Yeah, kid, I do,” Eddie said, slapping the kid on his shoulder and squeezing it, pushing him back in his seat. Peters look of joy radiated of his face, but also a little surprise. Eddie had faith in him?      
  
Eddie, of course had done his research before coming to New York. Wanting, no,  _ needing _ to know all about the heroes of New York and who’s path they shouldn’t cross. Their powers and their weak points, who knew who and who teamed up with who. New York had a lot of heroes, Eddie and Venom had learned, but Spiderman was a lesser known hero. Not much was there to find on the kid, so when they met him for the first time, they were happily surprised. The kid was doing a fine job so far, stopping a group of alien weapon smugglers all on his own, so yeah, he had faith in Peter. He had also read about the fight amongst the Avengers, but he couldn’t find out if the kid had something to do with it. Eddie looked back to the clock, which was reading 04:00 AM.  

 

Peter kept looking at Eddie, opening his mouth but closing it slowly, not sure of what to say. Eddie let out a tired chuckle and waved the kid off. "Come on Peter. It's getting late and you should be heading home soon. There's probably still a bus running that you can take home, before your aunt May might start to get worried again!?" Eddie threatened with a smile, grin growing even bigger when he saw Peter's face slowly growing terrified. Eddie then pointed towards the bathroom door, "But you probably should change out of that suit of yours don't ya think?"    
  
"NO!" The kid shouted, flying of the chair, grabbing his backpack from the table and running towards the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Eddie could just hear the terrified "Please don't tell Aunt May or she might never let me leave the house again!" that Peter shouted through the door. Peter, who was now quickly trying to change into his normal clothes, almost broke his neck with how fast he was trying to do it. His thoughts kept racing about what Eddie had said.

 

Eddie, who had started on the dishes, was still chuckling over the antics of the kid.  **_This Aunt May sounds like a mighty human, Eddie._ ** Venom whispered in Eddie's head. He had been quiet up till now, but as soon as the kid had hidden himself in the bathroom Eddie had felt him moving around. Eddie snorted, "I bet ya she is." he whispered back, focussing on drying a plate. When he was done with the dishes, he heard Peter come out of the bathroom and turned around looking at the kid now dressed in old jeans, black sneakers and a comfy blue hoodie. Peter now looked like any normal teen that Eddie had met, nothing like the superhero the kid tried to be and was. Eddie leaned back against the counter, looking at the kid, who was struggling with something.

  
“But you really should go home now, Peter. No more patrols and get a good night sleep before you go to school again. It’s been a long long day and you don’t wanna end up looking like me, now do you?” Eddie advised the kid, standing up making Peter look at Eddie. He saw the dark bags under Eddie’s eyes, his hair in disarray and the big black hoodie hiding Eddie's figure, and noticed his tired and slouched posture, as if Eddie had troubles keeping himself up right. 

 

Peter looked back up at Eddie. “You know Eddie, I really like talking to you.” Peter said quietly, walking towards him and sitting down at his seat, his ears reddening from embarrassment. “I mean, you’re easy to talk to and a lot calmer than my classmates. And my aunt May, she is really protective you know, so I can’t tell her everything. But you don’t treat me like a kid, you treat me like an adult. Unlike Mister Stark, who sometimes completely ignores me…” Peter tried to explain but trailed off.     
  
“Woah kid, Stark? Mister Stark? So, you do know Iron Man?” Eddie asked baffled, he hadn’t known but... 

 

“Yeah Mister Stark offered me an internship!” Peter answered proudly, puffing up his chest, trying to look bigger. 

 

“That’s great Peter! Is he keeping an eye out for you, showing you the ropes of being a hero?” Eddie questioned, a smile on his face, leaning back against the kitchen counter. 

 

“Well... He’s more of like a backup?” Peter answered unclear, unaware of the way he now seemed to grow smaller, hunching his shoulders, not looking Eddie in the eyes. 

 

“You mean Stark is letting you roam the streets of New York. At night. Alone?” Eddie said, his eyes narrowing. <<[changed comma to a period] he knew the kid was good and capable, but the thought of the kid doing this all alone. It just didn’t feel right. Venom bristled under his skin. 

 

**_We should keep an eye on him Eddie._ **

 

“Yeah, we should,” Eddie said out loud.    
  
Peter looked back up, his face now scrunched together, confusion in his eyes. “We?” he asked, Eddie now shaken out of his thought, started to sweat. 

 

“Just lost in my thoughts,” he quickly answered. “Peter, if you ever need back up, or you're in trouble like yesterday… I don’t need you falling of my rooftop again, kid. You call me okay? Even if it’s nothing and you just wanna talk about your school day, or... just call me. Let me know you're alright, that my faith isn’t misplaced.” Eddie sighed, hearing himself rambling, but the feeling to keep the kid safe was just too big. Venom, too, confirmed the feeling. Eddie took out his phone and gave it to Peter, who now quietly put in his own number. He called it, hearing Peters phone tune from somewhere inside Peter’s suit and ended the call, nodding satisfied. 

 

“I will, Eddie. I won’t let your confidence be misplaced,” Peter now said serious, his fists clenched and back ramrod straight, feeling proud that a grownup had so much faith in him. Mister Stark was like that, but after their talk when Stark had fished him out of the water, back when he hadn’t captured Adrian Toomes, Liz’s dad, Peter just wasn’t quite sure of everything. Mister Stark had given back his suit and even invited Peter to the Avengers! But still, he just really wanted to help people and Eddie saw that, he even helped Peter and told him about a neighborhood that needed his help. While mister Stark kept quiet, except for calling Peter to help him catch that metal-armed man, Butchy, Bucky?   
  
“Good. But now you really should go kid. You want me to give you a lift?” Eddie stood up, already reaching for his jacket. 

 

“No, no, you really don’t need to.” Peter tried, but Eddie had already made up his mind. 

 

“No kid, I’m getting you back home.” Eddie said firmly, walking out of his apartment and waving at Peter to follow him. 

 

“Al– Alright,” Peter stuttered, but then yawned pretty hard. 

 

“That’s what you get kiddo, staying up too late.” Eddie laughed and slapped Peter on the back. Together they now walked down the stairs. This morning they had raced down the stairs, to get Peter on time at school, now they had all the time in the world. Peter yawned again, now feeling how tired he actually was. Once in the garage, Peter climbed behind Eddie, and off they were. Traffic was calm and the ride went smooth. Once they had reached Peter’s apartment, they said their goodbyes. Eddie reminded the kid to go the hell to sleep and if he ever was in trouble. “Call me!” 

 

And Peter assured Eddie “Of course Eddie!” and secretly already made plans of going to the neighborhood Eddie told him about. After that, Peter convinced Eddie to come up and meet his aunt May.    
  
“So, this is the brother of your friend Peter?” Aunt May said, calling Eddie on his lie. Eddie started sweating a little. Even Venom moved nervously around, making Eddie almost squirm in his place. Peter laughed guiltily, slowly trying to hide in his room. Aunt May reprimanded Peter on coming home so late and not calling the evening before. She then sent him to his room to change and invited Eddie to come and sit on the couch. She wanted to know all the details of how Eddie and Peter met and why Peter hadn’t come home the other night. Eddie fearing for the parental wrath, quickly told her everything. From meeting Peter on the rooftop where he had tried to stop Eddie from jumping, which wasn’t really what he had in mind, to saving him from falling from the rooftop, skipping the details of the event and not mentioning one word about Venom.    
  
Aunt May seemed to have taken a liking to them, or Eddie, because when they left, Aunt May shoved a plastic container with a week's worth of food, into his hands and thanking Eddie for looking out for Peter. “Please keep on keeping an eye on him,” she asked Eddie and turned back to see Peter come out of his room. 

 

“Now I really shouldn’t be keeping you all up.” Eddie said, seeing the clock turn 05:00 AM. Eddie bid May and Peter goodnight and left for home. 

 

**“We like Peter’s aunt, Eddie. She gave us food.”** Venom said elated, slowly appearing on Eddie’s left shoulder, facing him. Venom’s white teeth blinked in the dark, the light of the streetlamp gave Venoms inky skin a soft glow. Eddie laughed and told Venom. 

 

“You like everyone who gives you free food V.” Eddie then inquired, “Not hungry for... you know?” Venom shook his snake like head and Eddie climbed on his motorbike. It was time for them to go home too – work wouldn’t wait for them. “You know, I really wanna go to bed.” Eddie sighed, feeling his eyes almost closing on their own. Traffic around them started to get crowded again, the city waking up, but the people not yet fully awake for no one saw Venom who hung over Eddie shoulder, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Eddie compared the view to that of a dog who stuck his head out of the car window while speeding down the road. “All in all, V, it was a good day, we saved Peter from falling to his death, got him at school on time, chased Iron Man through New York, hopefully made the papers this morning, met his aunt and–”

 

**“Going home with tasty food. Yessss, a good day, Eddie,”** Venom interrupted Eddie, grinning, showing of his teeth. 

 

“Oh, show off!” Eddie pushed Venom's head away, accelerated his bike and sped off home, hopefully catching two hours of sleep before heading off to work again. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... lot's of talking,  
> but next chapter is going to be a lot more exciting! *evil smile*
> 
> Hope you guy's enjoy and thank you all for your awesome comments!


	7. finding balance in the middle of the chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So who can guess the chaptertitle song? :)
> 
> Thank you all for your awesome comments!  
> Also with this chapter I reached 10.000 words!  
> Jippie!

Eddie and Peter had regularly contact, one day on the phone, the next Eddie met Peter on the rooftop of his apartment building. Peter was busy with school, test, projects and some difficult spelling test, which Eddie didn’t fully understand, but feeling just as excited as Peter, when he told about his schoolwork. They talked a lot and Peter didn’t get that weird look on his face anymore, when Eddie messed up and said we instead of I.  

The kid also kept going on about this science fair coming up at his school and how excited he was. It was nice hearing the kid so stoked about school, he also told Eddie about his nightly wanderings, helping people and capturing another car thief. How he had tried to be responsible and told other teenagers, who he caught dealing with a drugs dealer, to not do drugs! Seriously, it’s bad for you.  

Christmas was drawing near and Peter started to talk about aunt May, who had started to get the apartment into Christmas style, covering the Livingroom in lights and Christmas garlands. Peter and aunt May had decided to do a Christmas dinner, but couldn’t decide about the food, which resulted into major arguments, with lots of crazy foods.

When Peter started to talk about the holiday’s, Eddie’s thought always turned back to Anne and Dan, thinking about the Christmases he spent with Anne and how he missed her. 

**_What is a_ ** **_Christmas dinner_ ** **_Eddie?_ **

Venom became quite curious about this holiday. Asking Eddie all about it and listening with joy to Peters story’s and saved every little piece of information, Peter unknowingly gave him. 

Talking with the kid made Eddie feel better, because Eddie started to get overworked, the workdays kept getting longer and time to sleep and eat shorter, even his time spend with Peter got lesser and lesser. Marc kept him on his toes and focused on his work, calling him every ten minutes even when he hadn’t had any news on their new subject: is Captain America secretly in love with the Black Widow?  

"Dear God, please..." Eddie breathed, roughly rubbing at his face and listening to Marc rambling on and on about how Eddie really should start showing progress on their piece.

"Why are you such a mess Ed?" Marc sighed, meaning the way Eddie took care of his working place, pointing at the empty cups, half eaten snacks, his reports that almost fell of his working desk.

"I know I am." Eddie mumbled defeated, not feeling well, the days had started to blur into one another and he didn't even know what day it was. It felt like months since he and Peter had befriended each other or even talked.  

Eddie threw a look at the calendar, showing him that it had indeed been several months. Eddie had met Peter in September and now December had just started. The days started to get colder and darker, people gloomier and the Christmas feeling stronger, plus Eddies rent started stacking itself up. His apartment also suffered from Eddie’s long working days, it looked exactly like his work desk, but worse. He hadn’t done the dishes in ages and on the kitchen-counter stood half eaten take-away boxes, which also started to smell a lot. Venom kept him company, tried to make him clean up, but Eddie insisted on finishing his work, resulting in him not showering or eating and falling asleep on his laptop.  

"Really Eddie, if you just get your head out of your ass, start showing some enthusiasm Eddie!" Marc was still going at it and went on and on. Eddie should show more spirit, should keep his workplace cleaner, he should take better care of him.  

Eddie felt anger creep up inside of him, the unfairness of it all. Marc wanted him to show spirit, Eddie had finished all his projects and even helped Marc reach the frontpage of the paper several times. He supported Marc in this absurd article about Captain America’s love life, which no one would believe. He worked himself to the point of no sleep and even started to delay Venoms dinnertime. Resulting into unbearable stomach cramps and an insufferable, bitchy Venom.

Marc was still talking and Eddies anger started to grow and Eddie became furious **.**

 **"SHUT UP!"** Eddie growled, his fist clenched and his breath coming out heavy. It had been Eddie’s words but Venoms voice, Marc immediately shut his mouth, when he heard Eddie’s voice. But his eyes went wide when he saw Eddie’s eyes glaze over with. Eddie was so pissed off, that he didn’t notice and so tired that he shoved Marc out of the way, stomped towards his desk, violently swept his reports of it and shoved them inside his bag. Marc landed against an opposite desk, clutching it to prevent him falling to the floor. Shocked Marc looked back up at Eddie. 

"Eddie, I just... I’m sorry. I just worry about you Eddie." Marc said quietly, realizing he had gone too far and crossed a line.

"I know I don’t show it the right way, but... Eddie!" Marc started but ended calling after Eddie, who now walked away, anger clear on his face. Eddie’s and Marc’s co-workers rapidly got out of Eddie’s way. The office had gotten quiet and everyone was looking at them, some of them started to whisper to each other, Eddie’s eyes flew left and right. 

_I can’t do this... I can’t!_

**_Breath Eddie._ **

Venom told him, settling near Eddie’s heart, knowing that most times Eddie calmed down. Eddie tried to take deeper breaths but by now he was hyperventilating.

"Eddie!" Marc shouted worried and started running after him. Eddie threw one look over his shoulder at Marc, then turned around and escaped via the fire escape. Running down the stair Eddie felt that breathing became easier, Venom formed half over him, trying to calm him down.

" **Eddie..."** Venom asked, his snake-like head tilting and white eyes staring, making Eddie feel guilty.

"I’m sorry V, I..." Eddie started, but trailed of, he was just so tired.  

Eddie tried to take a deep breath, but a sharp pain inside his stomach made him groan in pain and bending over, his arms clasped tight around his stomach. 

 **"I’m sorry too Eddie, but so hungry"**  Venom said sadly, nuzzling his face against Eddie’s. 

"I know V, I know ugghh..." Eddie groaned again, but the pain flared up stronger than before and his groaning ended in a howl as Eddie sunk to his knees. Biting his lips Eddie collapsed on the floor, his forehead touching the ground as his stomach and now lungs to were set on fire. Venom moved through and around him, trying to comfort Eddie, going as far as purring loudly. Eddie heard Venom talking but he didn’t fully understand it, only that Venom sounded concerned. After most of the pain disappeared, Eddie tried to stand up, staggering he carefully went down the stairs. A dull pain throbbed inside of him and he felt like throwing up, with Venoms help he finally made it outside, he shuffled over to his bike and quickly took off.

"Almost home V." Eddie whispered, trying to stay up right on his motorbike.  

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, when another pain wave flared up, swaying on his bike he almost crashed against another car. The other driver tooted and shouted angry, waving his middle finger at Eddie. Eddie got his bike back under control and threw a quick look at the driver, at the same time Venom formed half over Eddie’s face and growled at the drive, showing of his pointy teeth and lashing out with his tongue.

The man paled, screamed and drove off fast, probably breaking the speed limit. Eddie sighed, but let out a light chuckle, he felt Venom move around, restless and worried about Eddie.

"Almost Venom, almost..." Eddie spoke softly, finally reaching home, he quickly drove his bike into the garage and slowly, painfully shuffled up the stairs. He slammed the door open leaning heavily against it. Breathing in deep Eddie stood up straight and closed the door, looking around his apartment and the mess it was. Eddie stumbled towards his dirty secondhand couch and crashed down on it. 

 **"Eddie...?"**  Venom asked quietly, appearing on Eddie’s shoulder and looking down on Eddie, who lay unconscious on his stomach on the couch. His face pressed into the pillows, almost suffocating himself. Venom moved over Eddie listening for his heartbeat and breathing, feeling the weak thump of Eddie’s heart, but no breathing. Venom quickly turned Eddie around, moving him face up, slapping him in the face with one of his tentacles, then Venom felt Eddie’s heart stutter. 

 **"Eddieeee** **!"** Venom now shouted, moving through Eddie, disappearing inside and closing around Eddie’s heart, squeezing and releasing, and repeat. Squeezing, releasing and repeat. 

 ** _EDdi_** ** _eee_** ** _..._**  Venom whined, now forcefully throwing every last bit of himself into it and into Eddie, trying to get their heart, Eddie’s heart working. Squeezing, releasing and repeat.  

Squeezing, releasing and repeat....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger! XD
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be longer I promise!
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Oh hey there is Marc again!  
> No worries for those who don't like stories with OC (which I'm not really a fan of).  
> Marc is only there to keep the storie going, other wise I'm afraid it gets a kind of boring and I don't know how to write Eddie at work without a partner or something like that...


	8. An early Christmas Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a lot of warnings in this chapter.
> 
> Warnings: blood, some gore and death.
> 
> If you think it needs another warning, please messages me!

Venom was hunched half over Eddie, his black tentacles roving over Eddie’s body. Having turned him face up on the couch, Venom kept trying to restart Eddie’s heart.

 

" **Eddie..."** Venom wailed, unbeknown tears were rolling out of his pearl like eyes, which slowly dripped into Eddie’s face. Landing on his cheeks and slowly rolling off, in the right light, it looked like Eddie was crying. 

 

 **"Please Eddie.... I love you..."**  Venom breathed, his face pressed close to Eddie, his words whispered into Eddie’s ear. Venom squeezed his eyes shut, forming fully over Eddie, covering him like a blanket. One more time trying to restart Eddie’s heart, giving his very best. 

 

"Ugghhh.... V, why do I feel so awful?"Eddie groaned, shifting in his place and trying to sit up. Venom who was covering Eddie shot up from his lying position. 

 

 **"Eddie!"**  He cried out, now fully wrapping Eddie up in an inky black hug.

 

"V?" Eddie mumbled baffled, surprised by Venom’s reaction.

 

"What’s wrong bud?" now hugging Venom back, squeezing into the black ink, which kept him warm. Eddie felt tired, his body heavy underneath Venom.

 

"Buddy, I’m really tired, V." Eddie sighed, reaching up and softly scratched Venom’s head. But then Eddie’s eyes closed and his body sunk back into the cough.

 

 **"No Eddie! NO sleep!"**  Venom shouted, but Eddie had already closed his eyes.  

 

Venom stopped moving and went stiff, staring intently at Eddie. His eyes tracking the way Eddie breast moved up and down. Listening to the quiet puffs Eddie exhaled, and then the loud snore he let out. Venom let out a sigh, relaxing.

 

 **"Dumbass... My dumbass."**  Venom said lovingly, gazing down upon Eddie. Then out of nowhere, Eddie’s stomach let out a loud rumble. 

 

 **"Ugghh** **hungry Eddie..."**  Venom whined, considering Eddie’s kidneys. 

 

 ** _Eddie can miss one, right?_**  

 

Venom hoisted Eddie’s unconscious ( ** _ass_** ) body upright, taking control of his arms and legs and taking Eddie for a walk. After raiding the kitchen for anything edible, Venom fully formed around Eddie, opened up the window. Glancing one time back, into the dirty apartment, Venom took a big leap out into the night. They jumped over the rooftops and with a ridiculous speed Venom flew through the sky, heading east, reaching the hunting grounds in no time. 

 

 ** _T_** ** _h_** ** _eir h_** ** _unting grounds_**. 

 

Venom purred contently, landing on top of a rooftop with a quiet but firm thump.

 **"FOOD...."** Venom growled, scanning the area, noticing a couple of guy’s fighting with each other. Venom’s sharp eyes detected several knife’s, which glittered in the light of the moon. Eddie had made Venom promise them to keep low and to not reveal them to a large group of people, but Venom needed the fuel to fix Eddie up. 

 

 ** _I will keep away from the lights... Make sure no one sees me, make Eddie happy and feed, to fix Eddie up._**  

 

Venom was shaken out of his thought when one guy inside the group, started shouting and pointing towards another guy, who was now holding up a gun, firing it all around him. Causing chaos to erupt, people slashing and punching at each other, angry yells and pained yelps were heard, but no one noticed the giant black figure looking down upon them.  

 

 **"Dinnertime**." Venom smirked and with a heavy sound he landed right in the middle of the wrestling group of gang members. The angry mob stopped moving, some people having to turn around to see what had made the other one stop. Surprised gazes went from eyesight up, up and up, until they reached Venom’s face. One second it was all silent, the next terrified screams were released and people started scrambling backwards, bumping against each other.

 

" **Merry** **Christmassss.** **Dinner."**  Venom hissed out, opening his maw and biting the head off of the man closest to them.

 

 **"Tasty...."** Venom’s tentacles reached out and grabbed people, holding into them, while his hands grabbed their next victim to eat. Their teeth glistened in the moonlight, blood dripping of them as Venom teared into another man, the guy letting out a howl, having his left shoulder completely ripped off. Blood spurted out of the wound, causing the man to start violently crying, annoyed by the sound Venom quickly tore the guy’s head of his torso.

 

 **"More..."** Venom mumbled, ripping into another guy.

 

 **"Not** **enough** **... Need more to heal Eddie."**  Venom growled and shoved a whole person down his throat, the victim screamed and pleading, squirming around to delay his terrible faith. He then got stuck around the waist, inside Venom’s mouth, to which Venom abruptly bite down, ending the screams.  

 

As Venom went around in the dark, ending life after life, the screams of his victims went not unheard. One quick spider, flew into the direction of the screams. Landing with a silent thump, Peter looked over the edge of the roof, straight into a massacre. He almost let out a terrified scream, holding himself back just in time.

 

"Peter, your blood pressure is rising. Is there a need to notify mister Stark?" Karin let herself know, shaking Peter out of his thoughts and bringing him back to reality. 

 

 _Bloody_ _reality._  

 

Peter thought, shaking his head violently to clear his thoughts once again.

 

"No need to call mister Stark just yet Karin, I’m going to try and fix this myself..." Peter assured Karin, assessing the situation in front of him. The big black monster, Peter was pretty sure that thing was no human. 

 

 _A_ _lien_ _maybe_?

 

Whatever it was it was big and had tentacles sweeping around himself, catching victim after victim and holding them up into the sky. Their feet's where franticly kicking the creature, but the black slime blob ignored them, favoring the victim in his hands which he proceeded to behead. Peter felt himself going sick at the sight, blood poured out of the body and dripped slowly into the ground, already forming a puddle there. Looking around Peter saw more body’s, or what was left of them mostly, and blood everywhere, covering the walls of the alleyway and the trashcans.  

 

Peter slapped his cheeks, standing up and yelled.

 

"Hey fugly! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!" Peter shouted and then jumped down from the rooftop, right in front of Venom. Once Peter was down on the ground he looked up.

 

"Awh, crap." Peter said looking up terrified, from the rooftop he had seen that the monster was big, but now standing in front of him. 

 

_I’m no match at all!_

 

Peter tough panicked, quickly shooting a web straight into the monster’s face.

 

Venom growled irritated, swiping at the web which now hindered his sight. Venom was at war with themselves, Eddie wasn’t fully healed, and not yet awake, but they didn’t want to fight the kid... But Eddie. Venom came to a decision. 

 

" **Need more food."** Venom growled, growing angry they grabbed the nearest person, they had trapped against the alleyway walls with their tentacles and took a big bite.

 

"Nooo!" Peter screamed, looking on as the black creature ripped yet another victim apart, the other humans trapped in the black goo, cried and the air reeked with the smell of pee, and some of them even shitted their pants, seeing as their comrade or enemy was devoured by the monster. 

 

 _I need to stop it_.  _NOW_!

 

Peter started running up against the wall and furiously shooting webs, making Karin scan the monster for any weak points.

 

"Please tell me Karin that you’ve got something." Peter almost begged Karin, now ducking to dodge a giant arm that came flying towards his face. Peter ducked and flew through the sky to avoid the creature’s tentacles, his spider senses tingling the moment one of the tentacles caught his ankle, swinging him through the air and slamming him on the concrete. Peter let out a quiet whimper, but stood up fast.

 

"It seems that the creature has no weak spot Peter." Karin let him know out of nowhere.

 

"But it seems to avoid the light." Karin ended her sentence with a little bit of hope in her voice, or at least that’s what Peter thought it sounded. Mister Stark would have reminded him that Karin was a computer and that she didn’t have feelings, but Jarvis had a lot of snark and sass, so... Peter didn’t fully believe him.  

 

"Light... light is is!" Peter exclaimed and jumped up against the wall only to push himself strongly forward and ram his shoulder against the chest of the creature forcing it out of the alleyway into the streetlights. The monster seemed to look around and proceed to quickly hide inside the dark alleyway.

 

"M-maybe this light isn’t strong enough..." Peter stumbled over his words, trying to get out of the monster’s way.

 

"Light, something stronger than light... uuhh... Fire!" Peter almost shouted, ducking out of the way of a big black fist, but stumbling over a piece of trash, only to proceed on rolling out of the way, before he could be crushed to dust.

 

"Karin, we don’t have something with fire, do we?" Peter quickly asked Karin, shooting out a web against a higher piece of wall and quickly swung himself upwards. From his high place sideways up against the wall Peter took a quick look down towards the big black creature, seeing it look up towards him, but then turn around moving towards his tied victim.

 

"Anytime now, Karin!" Peter shouted as he saw the monster reach out towards the passed-out man.

 

"Droney seems to have several bombs placed on him." Karin told Peter, and then without an order Droney appeared, Peter laughed and quickly ordered him to bomb the monster. Venom saw the little thing come but didn’t think any of it, such a small thing couldn’t harm them, it didn’t look like anything the Life Foundation had send their way. Venom opened their jaws, his tongue now sliding over the victim’s face, waking the man up only to pass out a second time. 

 

The drone now flew right above them, dropping small little black balls, that the moment they hit Venom’s skin exploded. Venom screeched in pain and anger.

 

 **"It** ** _hurtssss_**." Venom hissed and growled, turning around, facing the spider on the wall. Had Eddie not helped Peter heal, had they not taken care of him? Venom had saved the kids life and now he was trying to stop Venom from saving Eddie’s life. 

 

 **"NO!"**  Venom exclaimed livid and furiously hit Peter, who was now on the ground, running in circles around him, shooting web after web. They hit him against the chest, so hard and violently that Venom felt the ribs of the spider break. 

 

**_Have to protect Eddie._ **

 

Venom ran after Spiderman who now lay surrounded by rumble inside an empty storehouse.  

 

Peter had flown through the air and straight through the wall, landing inside an empty storehouse. Peter groaned, trying to sit up but failing miserably, slowly moving his head around, looking where the hell he was now. It took Peter a moment to remember what had happened, but the moment the large angry black, tongue longing out of its wide-open maw, stepped through the opening it came back to him. He coughed, feeling something wet on his lips and scrambled to stand up, coming as far as sitting crouched and lifted up the lower end his mask, spitting out a blob of blood.

 

"Peter? PETEr?" Karin tried to contact Peter but the voice system started cracking and squeaking. After that it stopped and started repeatedly yelling ‘SYSTEM ERROR’ in a heavy manly voice, slowly driving Peter mad. After a minute, but what felt like hours, the voice quit and it became blissfully silent, except for the heavy breathing of the creature, which now stood bended over Peter. Its saliva dripped from its long tongue, landing on Peter’s exposed cheek.

 

"P-please don’t eat me..." Peter begged the creature, feeling a silent tear flow down his cheek. The maw came closer, Peter closed his eye and turned his head away, feeling his conscious slowly fade away. 

 

"NOOOO!"

 

Peter heard another voice yell out, but didn’t see anything, slowly it grew dark around the edges of his vision. With a quiet sigh Peter fainted.  

 

"What do you think you’re doing you numbskull!" Eddie howled out, fighting back for control. Venom quickly let him, mostly disappearing beneath Eddie’s skin, but his snake like head hovered close to Eddie’s face. 

 

 **"Eddie’s awake! We healed Eddie, Eddie happy**?" Venom asked, a big grin on his face, showing his bloodstained teeth.

 

"Happy? Happy!" Eddie howled, looking down on Peter laying on the ground.

 

"No, I’m not happy!" Eddie yelled out, feeling tears flow down his face.

 

" **Eddie sad...?"** Venom asked quietly, not understanding the flood of feelings flowing through their bond.

 

"Oh God." Eddie mumbled, taking a step back.

 

"Oh GOD. Venom what did you do?!" Eddie cried out now turning around and seeing the chaos inside the alleyway, the blood covering the walls and the bits and pieces of dead body’s lying on the ground. 

 

 **"Healed us Eddie, we were about to die... so hungry**." 

 

 **"Kid tried to stop us, but we were wounded Eddie, fire..."**  Venom's explaniation now quietly finished, feeling the emotions inside their bond grow and explode.  

 

"Oh God. Oh GOd. Oh GOD!" Eddie panicked, breathing in fast, starting to hyperventilate, turning back to Peter, noticing the blood on the kid’s lips. And back again to the alley way, reeking of death. 

 

"No, no no, nonononononononono..." Eddie kept repeating, he turned towards the opening of the alleyway and started running. Venom didn’t understand what was going through Eddie’s head, the thoughts and feelings going too fast for Venom to follow, so he quickly disappeared and kept quiet, settling down under Eddie’s liver. Eddie kept running leaving the alleyway behind him, sprinting over the sidewalk, bypassing other late nightwalkers. Heading back to his apartment, wanting nothing more but to hide. 

 

 _How could he have not stopped Venom earlier?  He had_ _promised_ _himself to protect the kid! How could he have done this? They and_ _the kid talked all the time, but because of his work.... He had made sure that the kid could call him anytime, even made Peter promise it, on the life of his aunt! How. Why? Venom to had loved the kid. Peter was more_ _than_ _a_ _college hero_ _to him... more_ _than_ _a friend, the kid was family. God! Family...._  

"What did we do?" Eddie mumbled as tears streamed down his face.

While Eddie was running, trying to get away from what had happend, Eddie’s phone ringed inside his pocket. Eddie lost in his thoughts and panic didn’t hear the sound, Venom kept quiet to, trying to make sense of Eddie thoughts, not understanding what he had done wrong. Eddie’s phone rang again, and again. The screen lit up, soft light glowing inside the pocket, the caller reading: Peter Parker. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah another chapter, I hope everyone is excited!  
> I sure am, I also try to get this storyline in time with Christmas.  
> So there will be another chapter before Christmas and one on Christmas!  
> If I remember to update that one on time.... Woops :D


	9. Looking for the path of the young and lonely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone it’s me again! 
> 
> Another chapter and lots of thanks for all your comments! I always answer back, to let you all know I love to read them. :D
> 
> So, I tried to post a depressing chapter, because that’s how I thought Eddie must have felt after wounding Peter.   
> Warning: Self-harm
> 
> But Christmas is really coming soon, and it’s not a time of the year I enjoy, with all its forced happiness, jolliness and family time. I tried to describe the feelings of someone alone this time of year, but I don’t know this feeling, I will admit. I have had my fair share of bad and sad times, times I just thought: It really wouldn’t be bad if it all just ended now. That time I traveled a lot with the train and just thinking about ending it all, made me sad. 
> 
> You just get this kind of empty feeling you know? I tried to write this feeling down, tried to make up words for it, but after a while I realized, that there are no words for it. It’s a feeling, and I sincerely believe this, that it’s a feeling you are not meant to feel. It should not exist. 
> 
> So, for everyone at Christmas time, who feel like this, who are depressed, alone or with friends/family keep going! With love DayDreamBeliever277.

‘Eddie? Eddie are you there? You know how you told me to call you if anything happens remember?’ Peter’s voice filled the dark and empty room, the light of the phone showing only Eddie’s face in the dark. ‘You know I could really use your help now... it hurts...’ Peter voice cracked and a groan sounded through the phone. ‘I got into some kind of trouble, you know?’ Peter’s voice squeaked and there where sounds of rustling heard ‘I’m bleeding kind of bad?’ The kid sounded it like it was a question, like he couldn’t really believe that he was bleeding. ‘Eddie can you please come get me? I don’t want aunt May or mister Stark to see me like this.’ Peter’s voice trailed off, unsure and hurt, then the kid tried to end the call, his fumbling to push the end button went not unheard. ‘Please pick up your phone... come help me?’ Peter muttered and that was the last Eddie heard of the kid’s voicemail, that awful incident that never should have happened. 

Venom hangs over Eddie’s shoulder, quietly he stares at Eddie, his eyes move between the phone Eddie is holding and the way Eddie is pulling at his hair with his left hand. Eddie is just staring, his eyes blurry and his mind on that one memory. 

 _Flashback_ :

Eddie walks around the kitchen, trying to make the kid some healthy food, but failing miserably. The kid is talking about his adventures with Stark and how Stark had made him some supersuit. But Eddie had only one thought on his mind. ‘Peter, if you ever need back up, or you're in trouble like yesterday. I don’t need you falling of my rooftop again kid. You call me okay? Even if it’s nothing and you just wanna talk about your school day, or... just call me. Let me know you're alright, that my faith isn’t misplaced.’ The urge to keep Peter save was big, even Venom agreed to liking the kid and protecting him. 

_End flashback._

_I have failed him, I have failed. I hurt him! How could I have done that?_  Eddie’s thoughts raced one hundred mile a minute, thoughts kept circling, his hand kept pulling on his hair and tears had gathered in his eyes. Venom tried to reach Eddie, kept talking to him and moving in front of the phone, obscuring Eddie’s view off it. ** _Must distract Eddie._** Venom tried and tried but Eddie kept spiraling down, and down into some big black hole. Venom circled around Eddie and formed half over him, like a blanket around his shoulders. Eddie didn’t feel anything, but a big pile of quilt, crushing him and making it hard to breath. Again, his thumb moves to the replay button of his voicemail, for the hundredth time that evening Peter’s voice fills the air. Eventually Eddie’s mind became blank, and the time blurred and went by without them noticing. Sometimes Eddie just blacked out, at times like that Venom moved Eddie around to look for something to eat. 

He horded Eddie’s body around the dark city, keeping away from the light and neighborhood spiders. Picking only those people nobody would miss, and doing it silent, no leaving traces behind. Hunt, search, track and snack. Swallowing bodies whole and moving on until Venom felt satisfied and then turned back home. Dropping Eddie down on the bed, forming on his shoulder and nudging at Eddie’s face, waking him up. Eddie stared blurry at him and Venom moved his face back.  **‘You should shower Eddie.’** Venom spoke out loud into the quiet room, pushing at Eddie’s back, to get him to stand up. Eddie didn’t move, his eyes roamed around the empty room, the blankets of the bed where gone, one lay on the ground in a heap. The pillow laid crumped against the bed board and stains littered the bedsheet. ‘ **You stink Eddie.** ’ Venom tried again, pulling on Eddie’s hand, but Eddie pulled away and moved his hand back on the bed, accidently swiping his phone of the bed. The phone clatters on the floor resulting in a voice breaking through the silence. 

‘Eddie? Please if you listen to this, I’m sorry I know I went too far! Please Eddie call me back.’ Marc ended his voicemail with a deep sigh, the phone beeped and another voicemail started. ‘Eddie are you home, please call me and Dan sometime. We haven’t heard of you in a while. Hope to hear from you soon, love Anne.’ Anne ended her voicemail with a hopeful goodbye, like she really wanted to hear from him. The phone beeped again, the next voicemail began with a long silence, after sometime a quiet voice was heard. ‘Mister Brock? Eddie, I don’t know what happened, but I haven’t heard of you in a long time... Is... Is it still okay for me to call? Please just let me know if I did something wrong.’ Peters voice sounded sad and the call didn’t end immediately, just a few more seconds of silence were heard before the phone call ended. Both of them looked at the phone on the floor, and Eddie’s thought, which were cut off by the voicemails, started again. Venom looked on concerned, he slipped around Eddie’s neck trying to assure his host. 

_How could the kid think it was his fault? Eddie should have called him back immediately, he should have turned around and run back to the kid, get him to a fucking hospital. But no, he had been a coward, a stupid loser._

_‘_ Hey Eddie it’s me again, Anne. Uhm Dan end I were thinking, Christmas is coming soon and maybe we could come over for some time together? Let me know what you’re thinking, please call me...’  _Anne again, she should not be worrying about me, I’m FINE! She should be together with Dan, doing... Christmas things... Cuddling in the snow, eating a nice dinner in some fancy restaurant_ _, not traveling half of the_ _continent to come and see a loser like me_ _._

‘Hello? Eddie, how's things going man? We at work miss you.... I miss you man. I got no partner, work is building up, you know. Christmastime is the busiest time of the year... Please call me back Eddie, I’m really sorry.’  _Mark sounded really_ _sincere_ _and sad, you could hear the bussy office and the loud voices in the background. Stupid loser! You should be out there, helping him. Writing about all the_ _charity works_ _and good deeds done around this time of year._

‘Uhm, Eddie? It’s been some time since we last talked and I don’t know why we’re not talking anymore, but I really miss you. I can’t talk as easily to aunt May or mister Stark as I could with you. I really liked talking and sharing stories, but... now we’re not...’BEEP, the silence Peter let fall was too long and the voicemail cut off.  _That’s it... I really let the kid down didn’t I._  At that thought Venom growled and slithered over Eddie’s shoulders, purring to chase the thoughts away.

Suddenly the silence is filled again and the darkness is lifted by the bright light of the phone. ‘Peter here! I got cut off, but the last thing I know is telling you about aunt May’s big Christmas dinner and that is the last thing I remember. So, I was thinking and maybe you just don’t like Christmas? That’s super okay thought! You know I didn’t like it either back when I was a kid, well I’m still a kid but you know when I was little.’ BEEEEP, again the voicemail cut off Peter’s rambling and the phone grew dark again.

Then once again the phone starts to shine.  _A little beacon in the night._ Eddie thought sentimental, the feeling confused Venom. It was something he was not familiar with. Once again Peters voice was heard‘Here Peter again. You know my mom and dad, their... you know not here anymore, and as a kid I missed them a lot, so when Christmas came, I got really sad. So maybe you got sad to and that’s why we’re not talking anymore and I’m not mad you didn’t answer my voicemail, I was just in a little, little pinch, but I’m alright now! So, can we start talking again?’ Peter’s voice sounded light and a little unsure at the end, but sincere. Like he really missed talking to Eddie.  **‘Maybe we should call back Eddie? We like the kid...** ’ Venom spoke quietly, while giving Eddie a little shove, trying to get him to move. ‘NO.’ Eddie said resolutely and with a sudden movement Eddie stood up, he grabbed the phone from the floor and threw it on the bed. With quick sure strides he moved into the bathroom, all the while tugging on his shirt to get it off. Finally, he yanked his shirt off and with a harsh throw, Eddie threw his shirt in the corner of the bathroom. His anger quickly cooled and melted away, leaving just an empty feeling, Eddie turned around, staring straight into the mirror.

Eddie knew he looked bad. He had refused to eat, refused to sleep and refused to clean himself or his room. What he saw in the mirror was even sadder then a loser, he was a complete disaster.  _Trash_. That was the first thought that shot through Eddie’s mind, leaving him hollow.  Eddie ignored Venom who was hovering just over his shoulder. The man staring back at him looked dirty, his hair greasy and unwashed, there was even some blood in it. His face was marked by a dark scruff of a beard and big black bags surrounded his eyes, leaving him pale and sickly looking. It also didn’t help that his greasy hair was sticking up in several places, from when he had been pulling on it. Looking at his now naked chest, it showed clear signs of him not eating, his stomach lay flat, and from the inside it was cramping, creating a stomachache. ‘ **Hungry Eddie...** ’ Venom spoke quietly, wordily repeating what his stomach was already telling him. 

With a quick punch, Eddie breaks the mirror, creating a lot of spiderwebs, breaking his reflection. Big shards of glass fall on the floor, almost grazing Eddie’s bare feet. Venom looks on quietly, not saying a word, but following Eddie’s movements. Slowly guiding Eddie, helping him in lowering to the floor. Eddie almost collapses, tears streaming from his eyes, slowly rolling of his cheeks. Snot is coming out of his nose and then he, they, are bawling. Eddie is sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor, surrounded by pieces of the mirror, which are reflecting his crying face. Out of anger Eddie grabs a big piece of glass from the floor, he squeezes it in his fist, cutting his hand on the big shard. Venom growls lowly trying to stop Eddie, two black tentacles already reaching out, one trying to restrain Eddie’s hand as the other reaches for the glass piece. But this time it is Eddie who growls at Venom, yanking his arm out of Venoms grip and stabs himself in the leg with the big piece. ‘Don’t! Eddie yells at Venom, tears still falling, blurring his sight. Venom stops moving, staring silently at his host, not understanding. Eddie feels Venoms confusion and tries to explain. ‘You don’t understand V, I need to do this. I need to punish myself for what I’ve done...’ Eddie’s breath hitches and the tears fall heavy, the snot in his nose making it hard to breath. Drawing in heavy breathes, Eddie looks at Venom and back at the big piece of glass, which is now stuck in his leg.  **‘No Eddie, not your fault.** ’ Venom breaks the silence with a low voice, the rumbling of his voice, makes Eddie shiver. 

Venom moves around Eddie to look him straight in the eye.  **‘My fault, Eddie.** ’ Venoms ends, his words are spoken with some sort of finality. ‘ **Not yours, not ours, my fault.** ’ Venom’s tentacles move over Eddie, covering his cheeks and cupping his face, while another one, quickly rips out the big shard still stuck in Eddie’s leg and covering the wound with its black slime. Eddie looks on silently, not moving as Venom heals his leg, the only evidence of his punishment is the blood staining his sweatpants. They stay on the bathroom floor for over an hour, Venom who had given up on making Eddie shower, had made himself home below Eddie’s left lung, felt that Eddie’s thought had stopped, their mind now blank. ‘It’s called being in a shock, you know.’ Eddie tells Venom, but he sounds far away. So, they stay this way.  ** _This is okay... Eddie’s not hurting himself anymore... we’re going to be alright...right?_**

The apartment is silent for a weeknight, the neighbors, for once not causing some uproar, only a siren can be heard from outside.  _Someone got in trouble_. Eddie thinks. _There are always_ _gonna_ _be people who need help, there will always be bad people. Life goes on. Why does it feel like mine has_ _ended..._

The doorbell breaks the silence that had made itself home. It chases away the empty feeling inside Eddie, but leaving confusion in its wake. 

 ** _Eddie?_** Venom tries, and surprisingly Eddie turns his head towards the bathroom door, from this angle they can’t see the front door, but that didn’t stop whoever was pushing the bell. The caller kept on going, the sound started to annoy Eddie.  _Who the hell can that be?_ Eddie starts to move, first he looks around him, seeing the mirror shards still covering the floor. Next, he sees his reflection, his tearstained and snot covered face. He stands up slowly, turning towards the open door, Venom moves from within, quietly encouraging Eddie to move towards whoever is still pushing that doorbell. Eddie grabs his hoodie from the ground and puts it on. Then it felt like ages before they reached the front door, like they were moving in slow-motion, Eddie grabs the doorknob. The doorbell pusher stops, like he or she knew that they were on the other side of the door.

With a tired sigh Eddie opens the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote a new chapter...
> 
> I hope I got the next chapter in time for Christmas!
> 
> Stay strong you all!


	10. Merry Christmas you filthy animal!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a day to early, but I won't be able to update on Christmas, so...  
> For all the people who are still sad about the early chapter here is a chapter with a lot of fluff! :D
> 
> There also may be some typos and other faults, because I rushed this chapter a little bit...  
> So if you see anything please message me! 
> 
> Merry Christmas to you all!

Eddie opens the door, their head is down so the first thing they see are shoes. There are one pair of red sneakers, two pairs of red and black heels and behind that one pair of dress shoes and another pair of sneakers. Eddie feels Venom forcing their head up, looking at several familiar faces. Their eyes widen in surprise and Eddie feels their heart pass a beat. ‘Anne?’ Is the first thing Eddie says, the confusion clear in his words. Next, he sees Peter’s face, glowing hopeful, together with a small nervous smile plastered on his face in his hands two large plastic bags. Next to Peter stands May, or Peter’s aunt May, she laughs and says ‘Well someone is looking a bit pale. Who were you expecting, the cops?’ May winked and said in a teasing singsong tone. She holds up a big covered plate. 

 ** _Eddie,_** ** _tatertots_** ** _!_** Venom interrupts his thoughts, causing Eddie to shake his head, which quickly dissolved in a shake of disbelieve. They looked up again and said: ‘Dan? Marc? What are you all doing here? Anne shouldn’t you be in New York? And Peter what...’ Peter quickly cuts Eddie of, dumping the bags and jumping at the man, throwing his arms around him. Eddie stumbled back a little as he caught Peter, he then felt Venom push back against his skin, as if trying to hug Peter back too. ‘Merry Christmas Eddie!’ Peter yells on top of his lungs, drawing back a little to look at Eddie’s face. Peter was still unsure about how Eddie felt, or why they stopped talking. ‘It’s good to see you again Eddie.’ Dan says in his warm voice, filling Eddie with a warmth, which he didn’t even know he was missing. ‘You weren’t answering back any of my voicemails Eddie, I got worried sick.’ Anne said worried, ‘Besides I always wanted to see New York at Christmas.’ She tried, to cheer Eddie up, looking at his face which went from surprised to tired, but still smiling. Eddie clapped Peter on his back, the kid was still clinging to him, and said embarrassed. ‘Well come in, but uhm.... don’t mind the mess?’ Eddie mumbled the last part, letting go of Peter, his mind immediately going to the pieces of glass on the bathroom floor. Venom moved restlessly through him, but tried sending a soothing emotion through his mind to help him calm down.

Eddie gestured to the other to come in. The small group of people Eddie considered family, stepped inside. Marc looked around a little nervous, as if waiting for Eddie to explode, his shoulders hunched, in his hands a small plastic bag which he kept piking at. Anne and Dan to were carrying big bags and also two small suitcases. The group deposited their stuff on Eddie’s couch and then aunt May’s eyes swept through the mess, Eddie called Livingroom, she quickly turned to the others and pointed at Peter and Marc. ‘You two are on cleaning duty, Peter you take the Livingroom, Marc you take the Kitchen and Dan, would you be so kind and set up the dinner table.’ Marc stood up straight and Peter even saluted, Dan just nodded and turned towards Anna, giving her a smile. May then turned around facing Eddie and said: ‘I’m sorry dear, but your home is...’ 

‘A mess, I know.’ Eddie sighed, deflating and looking even more tired than he already did. Anne came up to him and gave him a side-hug, her arm felt strong and warm around his shoulder, honestly, it felt good to have her next to him again. Eddie turned his head to look at her. It was only now, Eddie realized, how much he had missed her after his move to New York. Venom also preened at her touch, knowing that Eddie had missed this and tried to commit the feelings to their memory. 

‘Uhm Eddie, are you okay...’ Dan suddenly said, his face growing concerned. Eddie started panicking, what was wrong now? Dan’s eyes were trained on Eddie’s leg, his sweatpants, that were still covered in blood. ‘Let me have a look at it.’ Dan was already moving when Eddie yelled panicked. ‘No! No I’m alright it nothing, uh.. I cut my finger with my razor and then I wiped it on my pants?’ Eddie tried to explain, his eyes flying between the faces of his friends and he started sweating nervously. ‘You sure...’ Dan said unsure, looking from Eddie to Anne and back again. ’Yes, I'm sure.’ Eddie said quickly and something must have shown on Anne’s face, because after looking at her Dan backed off and held his hands up, ‘Alright.’ he said and then turned to aunt May. ‘Well now that we know that, Eddie why don’t you get cleaned up, hm? Take a shower and relax, Dan you know what to do and Anne will you help me with dinner?’ May assured Eddie and Anne and Dan nodded, Eddie turned towards the bathroom, looking over his shoulder he saw that the three others were still looking at him, and all three nodded encouraging. May even shooed him towards the bathroom. Eddie huffed, he felt Venom smirk from within and walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Quietly he looked at the glass shards on the ground, his mind kept carefully blank.  Venom appeared from behind Eddie, peering over his shoulder and then more black slime appeared. Little black tentacles worked together and cleaned the floor of glass, depositing the little bits inside a little trashcan Eddie kept in his bathroom. Eddie then took of his clothes and stepped inside the shower, Venom’s little tentacles reached for the shower faucet and turned the water on. And just like that, it felt as if the water washed the stress and tiredness away. The empty, hollow feeling in his chest was gone.  _SO... they are all here. And Peter is here to_ _o_ _, God Venom we can’t let them stay here._ Eddie thought and he felt Venom move around, sticking his little black head under the hot water flow.

 ** _Yes, we can Eddie. We are not hungry now, we can make things alright again._** Venom thought back, moving his snakelike head back and looked at Eddie _._ _V, Peter doesn’t even know it was me, no you... I mean us who hurt him. I don’t even know what to say._ Eddie panicked, his breath hitching and he slammed his hands, palm first, against the shower wall, to stabilize themselves.  ** _Then we don’t say anything at all Eddie._** ‘What?’ Eddie spoke out loud, confused and looked at Venom, who looked back.  ** _We will just enjoy_** ** _,_** ** _Eddie._**  Eddie was silent, not knowing what to do he nodded and turned the shower off.  When he stepped out of the shower, he saw some clothes lying on the toilet seat, without him knowing, someone had come in and had laid them there.  ** _It was Anne._** Venom let him know and pushed him towards the clothes.  _Did she..._ See you, hear us? Eddie didn’t even know what to ask, or what to think. After dressing in the comfy clothes, Eddie took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. 

The first thing that hit them was the smell of food, warmth and family. The familiar sweet scent of Anne, that perfume Eddie once bought for her. And next Dan smelling, a light musk and clinging tightly next to it, the sterile smell of hospital. A little bit weak but still there was Marc, smelling of strong morning coffee and ink, that for some reason was always splattered on his hands, thought Eddie had never seen him pick up a pen. Then there was a new smell, but a pleasant one, May smelled of honey and food, mixed with that of Peters. Who smelled of the streets at night and teen sweat. _No hard feelings kiddo, that’s just puberty._  

The second thing was the sight, Eddie hadn’t decorated at all, not even remembering the date. But Christmas had come and even thought there was no tree, the room was decorated with green garland, covered in red ribbons. The heating was on and the room looked neat and didn’t feel so cold and empty anymore. Dan and Marc had taken their place at the table, which was now covered with plates, cutlery, napkins and wineglasses. On the table also stood several candles, making the faces at the table light up and glow softly. Peter now to grabbed a chair and sat down.  ** _The same chair as that morning Eddie._** Venom let him know thoughtfully. Aunt May and Anne moved around the kitchen and set all kinds of different food down on the table. ‘Come dear, you're not gonna stand there the whole evening I hope?’ May spoke, shaking them out of their thoughts. Venom willed their legs to move and slowly Eddie walked towards the table, grabbed a chair and sat down next to Peter and Marc. Both man and boy looked very nervous and they smiled twitchy at each other. Suddenly Dan let out a snort. ‘It looks like two and a half man.’ Dan laughed and Anne turned around, her gaze landing on Eddie, she smiled and said. ‘Well I know who is who.’ She then turned her attention back to the food she was preparing. Marc let out a nervous laugh, relaxing a little bit in his chair and Peter just sat there with a big grin on his face.  ** _Eddie_** ** _, food smells so good!_** ** _HUNGRY._** Venom said persistent. _We have to wait V..._ Eddie tried to reason with him but Venom became even more excited when the turkey was placed on the table. 

After that it was like everything was moving in a blur and Eddie was just watching the movie play. May divided the turkey, Anne and Dan handed out the vegetables and different kinds of sauce. Peter took big bites and Marc thanked the ladies for the food. Venom’s excitement rattled their bones, Eddie could only nod and at the end of the dinner there was a soft smile around his lips. When food was finished and the table cleaned Eddie and Peter were on dry duty and Dan washed the dishes. Marc, Anne and May walked towards the Livingroom, which only existed off a secondhand couch, a low table and a tv. May carried some small and little candles and put them on the table, Anne filled another few glasses of wine. When the dishes were done, Peter, Eddie, and Dan took a place on the couch, while the others took a chair from the dinner table and together, they sat down around the low table which was now filled with candles, glasses and several plastic bags. Peter was the first one the reach for a plastic bag and pulled it on his lap. Out of the bag he grabbed a little present, which he held out towards Eddie. ‘No, no I can’t take this...’ Eddie said quietly, the quilt now rearing its nasty little head. ‘Yes, you can.’ Peter spoke with confidence and again held out his hand towards Eddie. Eddie looked up, he looked around his little group of friends.  ** _Family Eddie._** The looks on their face encouraging him and Anne and May even nodded. ‘It’s okay Eddie.’ 

Eddie didn’t know who said it, but he reached out and took the little present from Peter. He felt Venom move, curious about what was in the little box. Eddie opened it slowly and when the wrapping was of a little notebook and a very nice pen lay in his hands. Eddie looked back at Peter, looked him straight in the eyes and thanked him from the bottom of his heart. After that presents were exchanged, May and Peter had presents for themselves and Eddie. Anne and Dan exchanged presents and Anne had bought a new watch for Eddie. Marc too had a few presents, one of them a new aftershave, which Eddie looked strange at and Marc made a bad joke about Eddie always looking a little bit sweaty, especially that time after their rough chase with Ironman. To which Eddie let out a happy laugh. 

It was already late when they all said each other goodbye, Anne and Dan where the first once to go. Together they went to a nice little hotel and the next day they would do a little sightseeing and enjoy New York in Christmastime. After that Marc to left, he told Eddie again that he was very sorry and after an awkward man-hug, Eddie promised him that he would come back to work if Marc still wanted him. When Marc finally left, Eddie felt good, he still had his job and now he had a purpose to stand up early tomorrow. May and Peter were the last to go. ‘It was nice to see you again Eddie.’ May told him, giving him a quick hug and grabbing their bags, which were now filled again with the boxes in which the food had been stored but the Christmas decoration they had hung around the room stayed. ‘Those will have to come back a later time, I think those are very much needed here.’ May joked and Peter laughed. Eddie thanked her for the food and then turned towards Peter. ‘Peter, I...’ Eddie started but Peter cut him off. ‘It’s alright Eddie, there is no need to say sorry. I’m just happy you're alright again and that we can talk again. We can talk again right!’ Peter finished his sentence worried, giving Eddie another hug and Eddie grabbed the kid tight. Venom to clung to the kid, not that the kid noticed but... Eddie sure did. ‘Well... I’m still sorry kid.’ Eddie said quietly, slowly letting go of the kid and after another goodbye, aunt May and Peter went home and Eddie closed the door of their apartment. 

Venom appeared on his shoulder, a crooked smile on his little snakelike face and tongue lolling out between his teeth. ‘ **That was nice Eddie.** **Tonight,** **was nice.** ’ Venom sighted and Eddie sat down on the couch. Eddie looked back at Venom and smiled ‘Your right buddy, tonight was a good night. You know, maybe the best Christmas I ever had.’ ‘ **We like** **Christmas,** **Eddie.’ ’** Yeah we do V...’ Eddie smiled, relaxed back into the couch, thinking about how everything was alright again. With a deep sight Eddie now completely sunk into the couch and closed his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who left a message on the early chapters they make me really happy!  
> Hope you all liked this chapter and have a good holiday :D


	11. I ain't no science geek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing STARK!
> 
> And a little warning before hand, I do like Stark I do, team Ironman all the way!  
> But I have a feeling Eddie wouldn't, which I tried to describe in the Ironman chase?  
> Anyway please don't hate me for this chapter :(
> 
> And to all my readers an early HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> PS I realized I never answered you guys back on the early chapter, thank you all so much!!!!  
> I love to read your comments and thoughts on the story as it proceeds and will try to always answer back!

The old year went by fast now. After Christmas ended Dan and Anne took Eddie for a stroll around New York. Forcing Eddie to share his secrets about the best places the town had to over, together they ate at a very nice little dinner and went shopping for clothes. Eddie had thought he would be the third wheel of the party but Anne always pulled him next to her and involved him. She even promised to stay for a small Newyear’s eve party.

Peter and aunt May came by to, together they drank some coffee and talked about this and that. They cleaned up the Christmas decoration and Peter invited Eddie for this upcoming science fair Peter’s school hosted. ‘It’s going to be amazing Eddie, I swear!’ Peter exclaimed enthusiastic, waving his arms around and started explaining the device Ned and he had built for the fair. Sadly enough, Peter and May couldn’t come to the small Newyear’s eve party, because Stark had invited Peter towards some Avengers gala, which Peter was very excited to go too. May was a little troubled about it but understood Peters enthusiasm. 

Newyear’s eve came and went and Anna, Dan and Eddie went towards this little bar, Eddie knew from his time in New York and celebrated together with a big group of strangers. Anne and Dan got so drunk Eddie had to call a cab for them to get them back to their hotel. The day after that Anne came by to say goodbye and kissed Eddie on the cheek, wishing him a good new year and to promise her to keep her updated. 

Eddie started working again and helped Marc finish an article about a charity event just before the deadline. He and Marc went towards another event which Stark had hosted, inviting the Avengers and the news and were Captain America wished everyone a good year, pleading the people to please stay out of trouble. Which caused a few laughs around the room. Venom and Eddie also went hunting for some food and ended up interrupting some big deal, that was going on between the mafia. They ended up eating some very dangerous people, because the next job Marc and Eddie got was to find out what had happened to this big mafia boss who had disappeared. The police didn’t understand anything from the crime scene, for Venom had eaten his victims mostly whole so there wasn’t as big a crime scene as there had been when they had hurt Peter. Thankfully the police investigation had ended very quickly with that accident, duo to the lack of witnesses. 

‘A new year has started V...’ Eddie said to Venom, sitting on his couch after a day of work, sipping a cold beer and watching some tv-program. ‘ **Yesss** **it** **hassss**.’ Venom hissed and dug into his warm tatertots. Eddie’s thought drifted off towards Peter, they now again, kept regular contact with him and one time they even went together to the bad neighborhood and Eddie shot some pictures of Spiderman taking on a three man-team of thief's who tried to rob a small bank. Spiderman caught the robber's red handed and tied them up on the roof of the ceiling. Afterwards Eddie wrote a big piece about it and it got publicized on the front of the newspaper. Peter had come by the next day waving the paper in front of their face and had kept on shouting how awesome this was. ‘ **We really like the kid Eddie**.’ Venom spoke, interrupting himself from gulping up his last tatertot. ‘Yeah, we do V, kid even invited us for his science fair. Can you believe it?’ Eddie laughed and sighed satisfied, relaxing further into the cough so Venom could finish his tot’s. Only to shoot up and yell ‘Wait when is the science fair!’ Startling Venom into dropping his last tatertot, which earned him a deep dark growl and a pissed of symbiote. Eddie ignored Venom and ran towards his computer to open up his agenda. ‘Phew... Lucky us it wasn’t today!’ Eddie breathed relieved and leaned backwards into his chair, Venom bent around Eddie’s side to take a look at the computer. ‘ **But when** **issss** **it, Eddie?** ’ Venom asked, his head tilted towards the side.  **‘We** **wanna** **see the kid again**.’ 

‘Well let me take a look.’ Eddie said and sat up again he saw the date and said, ‘Well it’s tomorrow actually.’ He leaned back again and said to Venom. ‘Well I’m glad I took that day of tomorrow...’ Venom purred and smiled towards Eddie. Eddie laughed and scratched Venom over his little smiley head, V’s purring filling the quiet apartment. Eddie then stood up, brushed his teeth and went to bed. The fair didn’t start until noon so Eddie slept in and was woken up by an excited Venom. ‘Eddie pancakes!’

Once showered and dressed in jeans, without holes and a comfortable blue hoodie, Eddie didn’t want to embarrass Peter by showing up like a homeless person, he went to make Venom some pancakes. After breakfast Eddie cleaned his apartment and answered some messages from work, he was feeling so productive Eddie even started working on his next project. Apparently, there were a lot of burglaries in metalwork companies and also in several HighTech businesses. There had also been some Christmas trees destroyed and several Christmas decorations wrecked, some Christmas vandalism hating the jolly time. Eddie gave Venom some chocolate and enjoyed one last cup of coffee and then it was finally time to go and meet Peter.  

Eddie drove his motorcycle towards the school, once there he saw the decorations for the science fair pointing him in the right directions. A big banner hang in front of the front door inviting everyone interested to come and watch the new generation of scientist and their work. Eddie pondered for a second and took out Peters present, a small notebook and pen, he felt Venom become curious and move through him getting excited, which made Eddie laugh. The fair was held inside the giant gym of the school, the whole place filled with tables and little stands, with students behind or in front of them. There was a lot of talking and noise going on, but luckily it didn’t bother Venom too much.

Eddie visited every table and the students who didn’t know him still welcomed him and when they saw that Eddie sincerely showed interest for their project, they became even more enthusiast and started telling him all about their work. Eddie could feel Venom become interested and together they listened to the ideas of the students, some Venom even complimented in their head for the creativity and saying that some ideas could even work, given enough time and material. Eddie even noted those things down, telling the kids that he was a journalist and that he maybe could write a piece about the science fair for the newspaper. Finally, when he thought he would never find Peter inside the giant gym he saw him standing next to another boy. ‘Peter!’ Eddie almost shouted, relieved that he had found the person he had come for. ‘Eddie!’ Peter yelled just as excited, waving him over and introduced Ned to him, Eddie shook hands with Ned and when Ned saw Eddie’s notebook, Eddie told them about the idea to write an article about the fair. Peter and Ned became enthusiast and immediately started telling Eddie about their device, which was a machine that could, in theory, work to repair the Ozon layer. Eddie looked at the kids and listened to them, but in the end, he didn’t understand much of the technology the kids tried to explain to him. Peter sees Eddie’s confusion and laughed, nudging Ned and Eddie laughed with them. ‘Well I really didn’t understand anything you kids told me, but it sounded really cool.’ Eddie laughed and Ned stopped laughing to wipe his hand across his forehead, ‘Well I’m glad you don’t just call us nerds, mister Brock. You see that’s what my dad does’ Ned says and wipes his hands on his pants. ‘I would never kid! And you can call me Eddie. Mister makes me feel so old.’ Eddie jokes and Eddie tells them about the other projects he saw and Peter and Ned tell him about the students and why some project is better than the other. 

Once done talking Eddie noticed the excitement running through the building, he saw people whispering and pointing, kids were shouting and Venom became alert, scanning the room for potential danger. A large group of people came up and suddenly parted, revealing no one else but the famous mister Stark. ‘Mister Stark! You came!’ Peter yelled delighted, paired with disbelieve. ‘Of course, kid.’ Stark said, not even looking at Peter, while writing down his autograph in some kid’s schoolbook. Once finished Stark looked up and walked towards Peter, looking at their project. Eddie quickly stepped aside, keeping his mouth shut and glancing sideways at Stark. Out of habit he started to compare himself with Stark. Stark was wearing tight jeans, and a snow-white shirt and a black suit jacket, Starks clothes showed of his fit body and muscles, on his arm a big shine silver watch and on his face dark sunglasses. Everything screamed confidence and money, Eddie quickly gave himself a onceover, nothing that the jeans he was wearing may or may not be his best, at least they didn’t have holes in them but they did slobber around his legs and his grey hoodie hid his figure. Eddie was nowhere near fat, but compared to Stark... Venom hissed in his mind, chasing Eddie’s thoughts away. 

He quickly looked up and saw Ned’s eyes grow and awe glowed off his face as his mouth fell open. Eddie snorted, amused by the kids face and nudged Ned, ‘Why don’t you tell Stark about your project?’ Eddie said and looked over towards Peter, beckoning him over towards Ned and together the boy’s started telling about their project. Stark listened and nodded, it seemed like Stark fully understood the kids. ‘And that’s how it works mister Stark.’ Ned finished Peter’s sentence. Stark now looked back to Ned and quirked his eyebrow. ‘Well... I think that if you kids used a better generator and changed those iron parts with titanium plates the machine would work a lot faster than it would do now.’ Stark finished and leaned against the table and looked back at Peter, who just stared at him and as soon as he understood that his Mister Stark wasn’t going to say anything anymore, he started stumbling and searching for words. Trying to explain why they had done what they had done, Ned just looks lost and stay’s quiet. 

Eddie felt his and Venoms irritation growing the more Stark spoke.  _That_ _arrogant_ _little shit! How can he just say that? Those kids worked hard on their project, and while Peter is smart not everyone is born a genius with money!_ Eddie fumed and Venom to started stirring, were before he had been silent and just enjoying listening to the kids.  ** _We should eat him for being so rude Eddie._** Venom growled inside his head, furry filling his thoughts and suddenly Eddie stepped up to Stark. 

‘How can you say that! I may not understand what these kids are talking about, but even I can see that they are proud of their work. They are kids Stark not your employees or your soldiers!’ Eddie finished shouting, in his anger he had gotten right up in Starks face. Credits had to been given to Stark, ‘cause he didn’t flinch once, but looked unimpressed at Eddie, quickly Stark places his palms on Eddie’s chest and shoved him hard and away from himself. ‘Well some people do understand what Peter and his little friend build and I’m just giving them some advice.’ Stark defended himself, crossing his arms and turned back around to the crowd, that had gathered when Eddie started yelling at Stark. ‘Little friend?! If you had eyes you would see that those two are best friends' you moron!’ The people had been whispering and talking to each other but now became quiet as Stark held his hands up in the air, quieting the people. ‘Moron?’ Stark paused for some dramatic effect. ‘Fine! For all the students here, I personally grant this school the money to make real prototypes of all your projects. Of course, your projects will first be tested for functionality and safety before we support them and grant you the money to build them.’ Stark added as an afterthought, he then turned back to Eddie and looked at him as if to say. See who got the kids back? 

Eddie became completely flustered and turned red, now that all the attention was turned towards him. Venom growled and told Eddie to punch Stark in the face.  ** _He has insulted us and embarrassed us, let us eat him..._** Eddie immediately shut Venom up and dared to look Stark in the eye and glare at him. Stark only seemed amused as Eddie quickly turned around towards Ned. ‘Your project is great Ned and I will make sure that tomorrow everyone can read about it in the newspaper.’ He then turned also towards Peter and said ‘Peter, Ned. You two keep on inventing machines that can save our planet.’ Eddie tried to encourage the two kids in front of him, he then looked back over his shoulder to glower at Stark and then said, ‘instead of inventing robots and suits to start wars.’ Eddie finished and Venom let out a growl which went not unheard by most people in front, Stark’s face now too, had turned angry and he showed Eddie his middle finger. Which caused a lot of laughs and gasps of disbelieve. Eddie then said Peter and Ned goodbye and hurried towards the exit of the gym, all the while pushing people out of his way, seeing as the whole gym had gathered to watch Stark and his stand off.

Finally, they reached Eddie’s motorcycle. Trying to get home they broke every speed limit in the city and once home Eddie howled and threw around pillows and upturned some chairs, trying to blow of some steam. Venom appeared on his right shoulder and growled. ‘ **Why did we not engage Stark in the battle he was so clearly trying to** **sssstart** **?’** Venom hissed at him and Eddie looked at him. ‘Because there where over a hundred people there V, you know we can’t do that.’ Eddie grumbled and stared out of the window watching the sky grow dark. After a while he went to sit behind his computer and wrote what maybe was his best piece ever, about a school event and sent it to his publisher. He was still sitting, fuming and lost in thought when he heard Venom say, ’ **Why don’t we go** **out** **and eat a little snack?’** Venom snarled with hatred still angry about what had happened this afternoon. ‘We could use to lose some energy.’ Eddie mumbled, he turned around grabbed his jacket from the couch, at the same time his e-mail dinged and a message from his publisher, who told him the piece made it on the frontpage of the newspaper. Eddie grinned and Venom settled satisfied within Eddie and together they walked down the stairs, trying to blow of some steam and looking for some well-earned dinner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not a lot of Venom interaction, so I promise next chapter will be all VENOM!
> 
> And now all readers could read all night long and enjoy this story XD


	12. Carnage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the messages and I hope you guys enjoy!  
> Also a little warning.  
> Warnings: Blood, gore, death.
> 
> If you think it needs more warnings, please message me!

The night was dark and the weather cold, an icy wind blew through the city, along with a lonely snowflake that was driven on and on by the wind, slowly the snowflake was now trying to land on a rooftop. Gently it landed on the cold concrete of a building, it glowed in the little slivers of moonlight, that manage ‘s way and broke through the big dark clouds that hung-over New York city. The little snowflake slowly started to melt before it was violently crushed by a big dark foot. The black shadow ran with great speed over the roof, only to jump up and throw itself at the next building. 

For some reason their hunting grounds looked even more dark then they had ever done before. Venom flew over the rooftops, with great speed they climbed up a big glass office building and stopped half way to oversee the city, a grim look on their face. They felt the anger, the hate flow through their veins, venom like addict burning in their longs, making it hard to breath. Then Venom spotted his first meal. He let out a low growl like breath and observed their snack for a while, following after it as it made its way through the dark alleys of New York. Their prey held on, a big dark suitcase, for dear life, glancing constantly over its shoulders as if it felt them watching. Venom let out a cruel laugh through rows of teeth, opened their mouth and their tongue lol out of their mouth tasting the air and smelling the fear their prey emitted. 

They prey now had seemed to reach their destination, walking towards an empty factory building. It was a big building with lots of windows, through which shown no lights, the building was also surrounded by tall fences, but seemed mostly abandoned. Their prey now entered the building through a big leaden door, with which he had trouble opening due to its heaviness. ‘ **Poorrr** **creaturrre** **...’**  Venom purred with delight and set course for the factory. He flew through the air and landed on the ground, he walked around the building and climbed the walls until he reached a window, hanging from the wall Venom looked inside to search for its prey.

Inside the building where even more humans. ‘ **More** **snacksssss** **.** **’**  Venom hissed dark and their face stretched to make place for an obscure smile, from ear to ear. Their food looked like they were arguing and the lone prey was screaming about unfairness, while the bigger group laughed and then one man stepped out of the big group, slowly approaching their prey. Venom growled, already wanting to break into the building but waiting, watching. Someone lovingly said  _patience V..._

The man held out his hand towards the lonesome prey and demanded the suitcase. To which their prey furiously started to shake his head crying out once more. The man seemed to sigh and made a hand gesture towards his group and out of a door, Venom hadn’t noticed yet, came three other guys holding a little girl.  _Kidnappers... most likely slavers or organ traders._ The voice interrupted again, Venom felt a bit of their anger disappear. Their prey screamed and shoved the suitcase into the kidnapper's hands and run towards Venom assumed was his daughter, the man fell on his knees and hugged the crying little girl, quickly standing up and carrying his daughter past the kidnapper with the suitcase. Venom grinned and felt a little flow of relieve course through their body, which suddenly turned into anxiety when he saw that the suitcase man had dropped the suitcase and was now pointing a gun towards their prey and its daughter. Venom let out a raging growl and threw himself through the window and into the building, landing just in front of the parent and his child, who were now standing eye to eye with them. The whole building fell silent, only the broken glass, from the window, that fell on the ground was heard. The man in front of them paled and his mouth fell open but no sound was heard, the little girl in his arms turned to look at them, tears still flowing freely from her eyes as she opened her mouth. The moment the little girl released her scream, all hell broke loose and Venom turned around and ran on all fours towards the man with the gun.

The man now pointing his gun towards them, yelled out at his cronies and then the air was filled with bullets. Venom looked behind them to see the man and his daughter fly out of the door and running away from the factory. Satisfied Venom opened their mouth and howled as they teared through their first victim, blood splattering through the air and into the ground. The men started screaming a lot of them reached for their guns and then there was only the sound of screams and bullet shells that tinkled on the ground. One man disappeared only to return with what looked like a big gun, he aimed at the monster and pulled the trigger, the men surrounding the other man started shouting and cheered when it seemed the bullet was about to hit the creature. 

Venom huffed amused and let the bullet come at them.  _Venom that is no bullet!_  A panicked shout filled their head but it was too late, the bullet, which was no bullet but a rocket hit them in the right-side and exploded. Venom howled from the pain and black slime flew through the air, making a splashing sound when it hit the concrete. Venom hunched, clutching its left side, panting and letting out a low growl.  _V it_ _hurtssssss_ _..._  The voice that had warned them exclaimed in a painfully hiccup. Venom let go of his side and stood up tall, for one more time Venom spoke  **‘You will pay.** ’. They then crouched back on all four and then launched themselves at the guy with the bazooka and ripped his head off with their teeth. The men then started to flee in fear, Venom had none of it and roared, grabbing a big chunk of construction waste that lay in the corners of the building and threw it at the door, through which their preys tried to escaped, successfully killing two more snacks. Venom quickly blocked two more exits and then ran after his prey. Grabbing its nearest victim and clawing his stomach open, the other men ran around the building, trying to escape and hide from this hell creature. Those who didn’t run fast enough were severed in half as others disappeared fully in Venoms stomach. Black slime surrounded the victims who tried to hide and black tentacles flew through the sky to pull their prey’s in halves. Others were flung through the air only to be released and fall all the way back down on the floor, breaking their heads open, others weren't that lucky to be released and where cruelly slammed into the ground, breaking every bone in their body. Men were screaming, others cried out for mercy or their God, some didn’t even have a change to beg for their lives.

It was carnage.

Then out of nowhere the factory was silent and dark again, dust flew through the air, lightened up by the slivers of moonlight that found their way inside the building.  Except for little sounds were heard, like the wind that now was howling through the broken window, or the steady dripping of blood from the fallen victims, Venom’s breath was visible now in the cold air. Blood glimmered in the moonlight and one brave rat made its way over towards a body, squeaking and chewing at the internal organs of the prey that now lay scattered on the ground. ‘ **One pile of body’s, one pile of** **headsssss** **....** ’ Was heard in the building and shattered the silence that had built up in the factory. The black mess of a monster started to gather its prey’s and separated the bodies from the heads, while he stacked some victims, others he ate fully. After they were satisfied, the black creature slowly disappeared, leaving behind a man, dressed in a dirty grey hoodie, the man looked around the building, took a step back from the piles of body parts only to step inside a puddle of blood and black slime. The man looks around once more, before hurrying out of the building, leaving a trace of bloody footsteps through and out of the building. Once he reaches an alleyway, he dumps the shoes inside a dumpster and runs away on bare feet. 

The man pulls up his hoodie and keeps his head down once a large group of police cars pass him with high speed and howling sirens. The man quickly runs towards a bus stop to catch the next bus, once inside he ignores the bus driver, who looks angry at him for being so rude and finds a place in the back of the bus. His hands clutching his side as if trying to protect it, his mind racing with fear, only to calm down when another voice appears in his head. Once exciting the bus, his thoughts are far away of murder and on the hot shower he is going to take and then straight to bed.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘The crime scene is a bloody place sir, and Jackson made a rough estimation but it looks like at least twenty victims, sir.’ The face pale of the young policeman is lightened up by the flashing of the lights on the police car. The crime scene is now bustling with policemen and secluded with yellow tape, a little group of onlookers have gathered in front of the tape, but are stopped by the policemen trying to keep them out and away from the scene. The young agent holds up the yellow tape for his boss to allow him to walk under it.  ‘Any witnesses?’ detective Williams ask while he bows under the tape and walks towards the factory. ’No sir, but there are several camera’s around the building, maybe there is some evidence... there are also footprints found, leading away from the scene.’ The young agent says hopeful and turning his big eyes towards the door which he is now holding open. Williams quickly presses his hands in front of his nose, ‘God what is that smell?’ He asks stunned, turning towards the agent ‘The crime scene sir.’ The young agent answers, with a pained look on his face and walks in front of the detective and leading him to a man suited up in all white. ‘So, Carl any info you can tell me?’ Williams asks the man, one of his oldest friends, who is crouched on the ground, he then looks at what the man seems to be observing and pales heavy when he sees the pile of heads. ‘Well Dave, it’s not precise yet, but I believe there are over twenty-five victims. And whatever killed them, it was not human Will...’ The man on the ground answers, now standing up and looking at the detective. 

The detective stays quiet, for a man like Carl, who was a forensic pathologist for thirty years and still going even after all the horror he had seen, to say something like this? ‘Are you sure Carl?’ Williams says quietly, Carl nods and the detective turns around towards the young agent. ‘Agent Johnson, would you please report this to you know who.’ The younger agent jumps back into action and yells a ‘Yes Sir!’ and runs of towards the police cars, in his excitement of calling SHIELD. ‘Youngsters these days.’ Carl says and pulls a cigarette and a lighter out of his pockets, Williams quickly grabs the cigarette and puts it in his own pockets 'No smocking on the scene Carl, how many times do I have to tell you?’ The pathologist just smiles and just shrugs his shoulders. ‘We need the forensics of SHIELD Will, we can’t do this on our own.’ He then taps Williams on his shoulder and point’s towards Johnson who come running back at them, waving his arms in the air, he comes towards a hasty stop in front of the men and says ‘We have the killer!’ Both men look surprised towards each other and back at the young agent, who continuous ‘Blake has watched the camera images and while most of them are dark don’t work there is one who shows a pretty clear image!’ The young man almost whoops in excitement and leads the older man back towards a police bus which is crammed with screens and one man in a chair is watching the images playing on the screen. ‘Detective Williams, Carl, you must see this.’ The agent on the chair says while nodding at them and then turns around in his chair and presses paly on his screen. The images start moving again, or at least the time start running, showing an empty alleyway with a filthy dumpster and at the end of the alleyway car lights passing. Then out of nowhere a man appears on screen, he quickly he walks towards the dumpster, opens it and then hastily takes of his shoes and throws them inside the dumpster, he closes it and then turns around, half looking over his shoulder and then almost running out of the alleyway. Agent Blake then stops the film and resets it towards the part that their suspect looks over his shoulder and pauses the film. ‘He is the last one seen on screen to leave the scene, but not the only one.’ Blake then says and moves towards another screen showing them a paused image of a man running, holding a little girl in his arms. ‘They were the other ones.’ Blake finishes and looks up towards the three other agents, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

‘Good job Blake.’ Detective Williams praises the agent and turns back to his friend. ‘Not human Carl? I clearly see humans here.’ Williams tries to joke but quickly stops when he sees the pathologist shake his head and look at him gravely as he says ‘Whoever those people maybe, one of them is not human.’ The man says turning back towards the screen and points at the lone man in it. ‘And I bet if you find those shoes you find your killer.’ He then turns back around, looks over his shoulder and says ‘If you all will excuse me, I got piles of body parts to exanimate.’ and then leaves the bus. The other men watch the pathologist exit in silence, detective Williams sighs and turns back to the other two agents ‘Well, this case will soon be in SHIELD’s hands, let’s find those shoes quickly before they do and take all the glory...’ he says before nodding at Blake and exits the police bus with Johnson on his heels, the grim look back on his face. ‘Let’s find those damned shoes.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a VENOM POV!   
> Last chapter there was almost no Venom, so I decided he needed his own chapter!   
> Did I trick any of you with the title? :D
> 
> Next chapter --> AVENGERS!


	13. A Dire Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey you all!  
> Hope you guy's are doing fine!  
> Thank you all for the messages and here's a new chapter!
> 
> There may be some mistakes, so if you see anything please message me!
> 
> So I edited some things in this chapter! Because I'm going to make this a part of the infinty saga and Bucky is obvious not in New York at the moment, so I swaped him with Rhodey.  
> Sorry for the edit!

Avengers headquarters 

‘So as everyone can see, whatever it was that killed those people, it sure was no human.’ Tony Stark finished his talk with a sigh and turned around to look at the people who had gathered in the conference room. All eyes were either trained on him or on the images on the hologram pictures that showed a manslaughter. ‘Well I spoke with the pathologist and he send me a sample of the weird black slime that you all can see in the left under picture.’ Bruce Banner spoke, while wiping through the holograms and showed the group a statistic of something. ‘I did some research on it and I can say with confidence that whatever it is? It’s not from earth. It is an alien substance, which, and this is only me guessing, that when attached to the bigger mass, has a very powerful healing factor!’ Banner almost shouted, excited looking at the others, but quickly quiet down when the others just looked at him with either blank or confused faces. ‘It also stretches like hell...’ He quickly finishes akward and sits back down again.    

The other Avengers look at each other, no one sure of what to say when the Black Widow asked ‘So do we have any clues, any witnesses?’ Stark sat down in a chair and typed something on his hologram. 'Actually, we do.’ Tony said and wiped up two pictures, one had two people in it, their faces were clear to see, the other picture was dark, but the Avengers could see a lone man in his forties, his face was obscured by a dark grey hoodie, the camera had caught him while he was throwing away his shoes? ‘Do we know who these people are?’ Asked Natasha, now focusing on the people in the picture. Tony looked at her and then back at the others. ‘Sadly, enough not that of our suspect. As you all can see the picture is to unclear to identify him, but the man and the child on the other picture have been identified.’ Tony lifted his hand towards the hologram of the picture to zoom in on the faces in the picture. 

‘This is Mr. Slain, he and his daughter were seen leaving the crime scene around 02:10 AM that evening. Police has identified him as a popular children book writer and have already spoken to the man and his daughter. The author told them that his daughter was kidnapped by this gang “The Devilsclaw”, the father went to the meeting point that evening, with a suitcase full of money and asked for his daughter back. The gang so kindly said yes and released his daughter. So, our man hands over the suitcase, picks up his daughter to leave. While they turn around  _something_  comes crashing through the window. We asked them to describe this person, hoping it was the man in the other picture, but...’ Stark stopped and opened the rapport on the questioning of the witnesses. ‘But?’ said a young voice from the far left of the room. At the corner of the table sat a young man, with brown hair, clad in a red and blue suit, with a questioning look in his face. ‘Well, whatever they have seen, it must have looked something like this.’ Tony then wiped up another picture of a drawing of.... 

Well to say the Avengers were surprised was an understatement, were the room was quiet at first and people listened with attention, they now started talking through each other, the volume raising. Clint Barton stood up and pointed at the picture, yelling to be heard ‘What the hell is that?’. ‘That, my gentlemen and lady's, is our suspect.’ Tony nodded with a grin and winked at Natasha Romanoff, who rolled her eyes, while Wanda just scoffed, and stood up, everyone falling silent once she fully stood. ‘Well I see a black figure, possibly a monster, that explains the black slime found on the crime scene.’ As she wanted to continue with her observations, she was interrupted by a man's voice. ‘Look at those teeth!’ Sam Wilson said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Captain America next to him, wiggling his eyebrows. Rhodey who was seated on his other side snorted and bent over to get a good look at the picture, he squinted his eyes and looked at Tony. ‘Is that... is that his tongue?’ Tony sighed and nodded, he then looked at the people around him. Natasha had sat back down and was seated to his right, next to her sat Bruce and they spoke quietly about the black substance and why the creature hadn’t taken the suitcase, full of money, with him, if that was his goal. Vision and Wanda Maximoff sat together on his left, Wanda looked at Tony only to look back at Vision who was deep in thought and had a big frown on his face. Next to them sat Clint who was still looking at the picture like it had personally offended him. Right in front of Stark, on the other side of the hologram sat Cap, Captain America, or Steve Rogers with on his right Rhodey and, on his left, Sam, who was nudging Rogers and pointed towards the claws on the hands of the black figure and together they were arguing whether it was a man or a woman. ‘It doesn’t have to be a man, look at those claws! It could just as well be a woman!’ ‘You idiot, were in the pictures did you see a woman around the crime scene?’ 

In the left corner sat Peter Parker, in-between Sam and Banner, Peter had been quiet most of the meeting occasionally asking a question, but now he wasn’t saying anything. Stark took a better look at Peter and saw that the boy looked as if he had seen the devil himself, as he was hunched in on himself, looking small and unsure whether or not what to say. ‘Peter?’ Tony said in a protective but also authoritarian tone, the others quiet down and then everyone looked at Peter who just tried to disappear. ‘What is it Peter?’ Tony asked again now worried because Peter had become quite pale. ‘W-Well mister Stark, it’s just... It’s just I have met this creature before.’ Peter answered quietly, eyes big and unseeing as his thought went back to the first and last time, he had met the black monster.  

 _It had been eating a group of humans in a dark_ _alleyway_ _, Peter had tried to fight it_ _off_ _, using bombs and then generously pissing the monster of._  ‘Peter.’  _It had beaten him up pretty good, slammed him right through a wall and had then approached him as if it was also going to eat him. Peter then had blacked out, once awake again the monster was gone, but the place was full of dead bodies and the whole place reeked of blood and death!_ ‘Peter?’  _He had tried to call Eddie but when he didn’t pick up the phone, he needed a new plan and had quickly_ _called_ _the police and then dragged himself home and into the care of his aunt May, who had not been pleased, and everything had hurt._  ‘Peter!’ 

For the third time Tony now yelled the kids name, Bruce was holding into Peter’s shoulder and gently shake it to bring Peter back with them, concern growing on his face. The other all had worried looks on their face, when Peter’s head snapped back up and looked with big eyes at Tony, Bruce let go of Peter. ‘Peter are you alright?’ Tony asked again, wanting to just take the kid and leave, but couldn’t. Peter nodded his head harshly and sat back up, his eyes went back to the picture of the monster. ‘You said you have met this thing before? Where!’ Tony questioned, putting his hands on the table and leaning over towards Peter, his face now serious. Peter winces and looks at Stark, telling him and the other about the neighborhood Eddie told him about, without mentioning Eddie of course! How he had found the creature thanks to the screaming he had heard, how he had been surprised but quickly terrified as he saw what the monster was doing, how he saw the monster ripping into somebody, only to tear of the man’s head and swallow it whole. The Avengers listened and Vision looked more worried by the minute, Wanda looks even paler when Peter describes the way the monster just let go of the body it was consuming and deflected Peter’s attack with ease. When Peter told them that he thought that the monster was scared of light, Bruce sat up straighter and his eyes started shining, Natasha also started listening with more care on how to defeat the creature. When Peter finishes his story about how he attacked the creature with bombs, which created lots of fire and hurt the creature, well 'just say he didn’t tell them about the way the monster had almost killed him, in fear of what mister Stark would do and take back his words and his suit. The Avenger looked back at Stark when he starts talking again. 

‘Well those bombs I designed on that drone weren’t very heavy, maybe that’s why the monster attacked you again instead of running off, they probably weren’t heavy enough...’ Tony said absently, his mind racing on ways to catch this monster and end it.  _It had hurt Peter for_ _shitsake_ _! ‘_ Are you sure that the fire hurt it?’ Bruce asks, his hands already typing in ideas and formulas on his data pad. ‘Pretty sure mister Banner.’ Peter answers and then Natasha shoves Banner aside and ask ‘How hard did you kick him? What kind of moves did he deflect and which hit?’ Peter now leans back in his chair, as if to get away from the Black Widows intensive stare. ‘Oh uhm, well I believe that when I kicked him with my right leg, he blocked it but when I used my left it hit?’ ‘Did you try knifes on him? Did you use any flying moves?’ Now the Falcon let himself known as he to tried to pry information from the kid. Captain America saw how the kid started leaning further and further back in his chair, he let out a quiet chuckle and then he stood up, the other immediately backed down and sat back in their chairs. ‘I believe young Peter needs a little more space, why don’t we pause this meeting and take a breath, maybe eat something and then come together later when everyone is refreshed and try to gather more information. Something this big must have been seen before and judging from its eating habits there are probably more unsolved crimes like this.’  _Well leave it to Captain America to bring sense back into this conversation._ Tony thought amused, he smiled and then stretched, ‘Yeah I probably need some coffee. What about you Peter?’ Tony turned towards the kid as the other Avengers left the room. ‘Oh, I uhm... I will come later...’ Peter said a little flustered and dazed, Tony frowned, wanting to approach the kid but thought better of it.  _Better leave the kid for a while... He needs some alone time and take this all in, he knows this monster, he fought it! It must have been a much heavier fight then the kid lets on._ Tony only nodded at him and then left the room, leaving Peter in silence. 

Now that the room was empty, Peter felt like he could finally breath again, it had felt very crowded when everyone had started to ask him questions about the black man-eating monster! The whole event had left him rather shaken up. While Peter is drowning in his thoughts, his phone goes off, filing the room with soft music. Peter quickly starts searching for it, his hands going over his suit and then he picks up his bag that had sat next to him on the ground the whole meeting and grabs his phone out of it, he picks up and says, ‘Peter here?’.  

‘Hey Peter! It’s me Eddie... Uhm how are you doing kid?’ Peter sits up straight and lets his bag fall from his lap. ‘Eddie! Uh yeah I’m fine, how are you?’ Peter wiggles in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position and then pulls his legs up in the chair to sit cross-legged. On the other side he can hear Eddie snort a laugh and then, ‘Wel I’m fine to kid, but why I called was to apologize...’ ‘Apologize? For what?’ Peter asks confused, he then shoots out a web into the table, he pulls and makes the chair spin. ‘Well um for yelling at Stark in front of you and the whole school.’ Eddie mumbled the last part and then it sounded like he covered the phone because Peter heard a muffled shouting on the other side, he was still spinning around slowing down only to shoot another web and launce himself around the room. ‘Oh that! Uhm well it’s fine, it’s not like I’m really popular or something.’ Peter waves Eddie’s apologize away lightly, though it’s almost like he can see Eddie frown when he says, ‘Well kid, it's just I think you have him pretty high and I shouldn’t fight with the man you see as your dad.’ 

‘WHAT! NO, No, nonononono! No, you got that wrong, mister Stark is not my dad!’ Peter almost chokes with how fast he is talking and crashes head first into the wall, as he was in the middle of launching himself through the conference room on his chair with wheels now that everyone was gone. He quickly picks himself of the ground, just in time to hear Eddie confused, ‘Are you alright?’ Peter nods heavily, only to realize Eddie can’t see him and quickly says, ‘Yeah, but mister Stark is not my dad.’ His voice rising in embarrassment as he can hear Eddie now laughing loudly through the phone, ‘He is not!’ Peter exclaims and stands up, pushing the chair towards the desk again. ‘Don’t deny it kid! I see how you look at him.’ Eddie grins and Peter blushes mad, quickly trying to end the call. ‘Well you see Eddie, everything is fine! And Stark is NOT my dad! Besides I’m in the middle of a, uh very important meeting!’ The surprise but also the sarcasm is clear in Eddie’s voice when he says, ‘A meeting yeah?’ Peter walks towards the door and into the hall as he answers back, ‘Yes a very important AVENGERS meeting so I have to hang up now!’ With that said Eddie starts snickering and laugh out loud into the phone, ‘Sure kid, ahum, good luck Spiderman, with saving the world. You’re doing great kid.’ Eddie ends the call with something of a proud tone, Peter is not very sure and sighs, turning around and walking the way he came from the first time he entered this building, now feeling light and rested again.  

He sees mister Starks come around the corner of the hall, holding on to a cup of coffee and a cola. ‘Peter!’ Mister Starks shouts and waves the bottle in the air, Peter grins and walks towards him. Then all of a sudden, a big and loud siren goes off. And suddenly the hall is filled with Avengers. Peter sees the Black Widow running of with Hawkeye on her heels and mister Banner stars shouting something about a big green evil robot that is rampaging through New York and destroying buildings and firing rockets! 

‘What is going on!?’ Peter yells startled and confused, mister Stark turns around, winking at the kid and says, ‘Well kid, looks like New York needs you.’ He finishes with a grin and then runs of and Peter follows him hastily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to write an exciting chapter next (yes I started it already!), but it seems I suck at writing fight scenes........?
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! See you all next time. :D


	14. How the Grinch stole Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter!
> 
> The fight breaks lose!
> 
> So some warnings: little bit of blood
> 
> Edit! I swapped Bucky with Steve, because Bucky is at Wakanda!

Not long after Eddie hung up his call with Peter, Marc came running towards him, camera in hand and waving it around in the air. ‘Eddie! Eddie get up! We got a scoop!’ Marc shouted as he ran past Eddie’s desk, grabbed his jacket and run towards the elevators. ‘Not another “secret lover” scoop, right?’ Eddie grumbled, slung on his jacket and grabbed his carton coffee and walked in a far calmer manner after his college. He reached Marc’s side and looked at him, eyebrows raised and an uninterested look on his face. ‘Oh no! Nononono! This is far more exciting!’ Marc shouted in Eddie’s face, while franticly pushing the elevator button. ‘Well, enlighten me then?’ Eddie said and grabbed Marc’s hand, who was now slamming on the buttons. ‘It’s a robot Eddie!’ Marc almost whispered, excitement rating of his face, his smile stretching ear to ear and his eye’s glimmered. ‘A robot.’ Eddie repeated in a deadbeat tone, already turning around and back towards his desk.  _Nope not today Satan, no more fights for us. The police are already looking for me, after that one hunt went wrong..._  

Eddie was still lost in his thought when Marc came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around and almost whined. ‘Eddie please! They called in the Avengers!’ At that Eddie felt Venom stir, feeling him slither through from down his organs, towards his chest settling somewhere on the left.  ** _Eddie! HEROS_**! Eddie let out a deep sigh, replying, ‘Fine...’ to the both of them and Marc let out a whoop and the elevator dinged open.  _Children, both of you._ Venom only grumbled at that, stiringaround with excitement. 

Within twenty minutes Eddie and Marc raced through the now still standing traffic towards the big fight of the Avengers. Eddie had the gas full open and was revving his motorbike, waving through stilled cars and trucks. Marc behind him was yelling random things about the Avengers and who he hoped to see. Venom to was moving around excited.  ** _Think we will meet spider again?_** _The kid has a name V! And... well... who knows? He did say that he had very important Avenger things to do._ Eddie joked at Venom and then turned his attention back on the road, from up ahead he could hear explosions and screaming people. They almost reached the fight scene, only to be obscured by the police who tried to keep the people out and evacuating onlookers from the scene. Eddie parked his motor somewhere he hoped safe and followed after Marc, together they slipped past the police and towards the fight. While most people ran away of the fight, Mar and Eddie went in the opposite directions, sometimes having to move out of the way for paramedics who came rushing by with stretchers. 

Marc lifted his camera up, pointing it upwards towards the big office buildings that blocked their sight on the fight. Once they got past the buildings, they reached an open space, a little green plaza surrounded by little shops and restaurants, there they saw who the Avengers were supposed to be fighting. The first thing Eddie said was, ‘Well that is indeed a robot.’ Marc next to him opened his mouth and retorted, ‘Why the hell is it so green?’. Before Eddie could replay to that a big piece of falling debris almost crushed them, just in time Eddie pulled Marc out of the way as another blast of the robot’s cannons shot at the they office building behind them.  

The Avengers, who already had arrived at the scene, had also asked the same question at each other, but soon started their activities. The Black Widow and Captain America had first helped the onlookers to evacuate, while Ironman, the Winter Soldier and the Hulk started engaging the robot. Spiderman, the Falcon, Vision and Wanda tried to keep the people save from the falling debris. Spiderman shot his webs through the air, trying to not hit Sam while he swiped down and saved a woman who had tripped on the ground and was trying to get up from being crushed. They worked quickly and soon most of the scene had been cleared from civilians and the Avenger took full advantage of the space, Captain America launched the Black Widow in the air, so that she could have a clean shot, but she was quickly picked out of the air by Sam, before being blasted to pieces. ‘That asshole has automatic blasters on his back!’ Ironman shouted and quickly moved out of the way as the Hulk came running towards the robot and rammed it against a building. From where Eddie and Marc stood it looked like a fight between ants and a giant. ‘Do you think they will win?’ Marc whispered, while training his camera on Ironman. ‘Who knows...’ Eddie mumbled, not paying Marc any attention, Venom had said something to him and now his eyes were trained on one of the shops that was situated in front of the fight.  

‘Shit! I thought all civilians were evacuated.’ Eddie cursed, as he saw that there were still people in the shop, hiding from the robot's attack, while looking on frightened. ‘We too are civilians Eddie.’ Marc reminded Eddie, looking at him strangely. ‘Uh... of course, I was just.... yeah.’ Eddie stumbled over his words, only to grab Marc by his arm and pulled him out of the Hulks way, who had just been hit by a punch of the robot and crashed into a building. Marc cursed and together they ran towards a park bench and hiding behind it, that gave Eddie a perfect view of the shop, while the Hulk tried to stand up again while grumbling. It seemed that the Hulk had enough, because the giant green man parted ways and disappeared back into a normal looking man.  ** _Like us Eddie!_** _I don’t think we really are the same buddy._ Eddie than had to focus back on the fight, trying to remember who did what and looked over to see if Marc was alright and if he still had his camera. The big giant green robot now stood in the center of the plaza and the Avengers stood around it in a circle, for a moment it was quiet, both parties were looking at each other, Eddie saw a small group of civilians slowly walk out of the shop, most of the people were hunched over, afraid for being shot and heads down so not to trip over the stones and big piece of brick wall that had come down while the fight had been raging on.  

There was a weird sound and everybody looked up, the face of the green robot opened up and behind it sat a man in a big chair surrounded by levers, tubes and buttons. The man laughs evil and looks at the Avengers, greeting them and naming the most famous ones by name. ‘To think that my invention has gathered all of the Avengers!’ The man in the robot belts out, obvious proud of his work. ‘So, I got one question!’ A young voice called out, thought muffled by a mask, Spiderman who now flew down to the ground using one of his webs. The man in the robot turns to look at him, looking angry for being interrupted, Spiderman landed between Captain America and Ironman, who too looked at the kid. ‘Who are you! And why is your robot so.... green?’ The kid asked the question no one had dared to ask the man and now everyone’s attention went back to the man in the robot. ‘HAHAHA!’ Laughed the man and he leaned forward a little to get a better look at the new hero. ‘You see, ever since the people started celebrating their Christmas holiday and their jolly merry time, I have started building this robot. You see I hate Christmas with a passion that rivals the sun!And now I! THE GRINCH! Will ruin your holiday!’ The man, or the Grinch, explained his evil plan, leaving everyone stunned. ‘So, you were the one who destroyed and stole those Christmas decorations in the city?’ Captain America questioned ridiculed, while sifting his shield from his left, to his right hand, gripping it tight, ready for any sudden movements. ‘YES! That was me, do you feel sad?’ The man exclaimed and an evil grin spread over his features, as it was clear he hoped that the Avengers were angry about this. His smile fell quick from his face as no one answered back. ‘Well this is all nice and dandy but you do realize Christmas is over? It’s already January...’ Ironman who also had opened his face mask said, one eyebrow arced and arms crossed. 

‘Ah yes... It took me longer that I thought to finish my masterpiece...’ The bad guy mumbled, he even seemed a little ashamed of the fact. Tony sighed heavily and rubbed at his face, while Sam, who stood next to him, groaned and it was clear Steve was tired of it all, because he gripped his shield started running towards the robot. ‘WOAH! You want a piece of me! Come and get me.’ The man, or the Grinch, hollered and the robot shut his faceplates and met Steve's punches one for one, Sam went back up in the air and Spiderman shot his webs to stop the robot’s arms from punching. ‘That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard.’ Marc said, a look of disbelieve on his face. ‘Tell me something!’ Eddie and Marc turned around and saw Bruce Banner walk towards them, ‘This guy has a better story that the last guy we caught, but you guys should really get out of here, it’s not safe.’ ‘And it is safe for you?’ Eddie questioned Banner, looking him up and down, while he felt Venom wiggle around, obvious excited to be near the Hulk. ‘Well... you got a point there.’ The man mumbled, he looked up thought and said, ‘We all should evacuate.’  

‘No! I want my scoop.’ Marc yelled angry, his head snapping towards Banner and lifting up his camera. ‘Believe me, you don’t wanna get between him and his scoop. This is the most exciting thing we have had since the chase between Ironman and that bomber.’ Eddie advised Banner and Marc agreed loudly, only to jump up skittish when the earth trembled, due to an explosion. Banner shook their head at them and ran towards the Black Widow.  

The group of people who tried to get out of the shop now started shouting and yelling as the fight picked up. The robot unleashed several heavy looking rockets and shot them at the Avengers. Captain America stopped several rockets with help of a vending machine and his shield, while the Black Widow shot several bullets of her own, she then was called by Hawkeye through her phone, who told her that he was in position. He only needed for the robot to turn around. Thanks to the shouting of the people the other Avengers became aware of their position. ‘Shit!’ Ironman cursed and shot one of his lasers at the robot. ‘Don’t worry mister Stark!’ Spiderman yelled and swung down towards the terrified group of people, together they tried to defend the group from the lasers and debris that fell down. Eddie looked on and grinded his teeth, wanting to help but not daring to. Venom needless to say didn’t agree and pushed Eddie forwards. ‘Marc... I think it’s best for us to also leave...’ Eddie said and Marc was just trying to protest as one of the robot’s rockets went wide and crashed into the building just above their heads, Marc yelped and then looked over at Eddie, his eyes wide with fear and nodded hard.   

Eddie and Marc started running the same time the group of scared civilians ran, both parties joined each other and come to a stop when a big piece of debris came down in front of them, halting the group in their haste to get away. The robot man had now seen the large group and trained his weapons on them, which scared the people into yelling, some even fell down and the Avengers quickly stepped in to draw away the Grinch’s attention. Spiderman ran towards the group and helped several people back on their feet, he looked around and caught Eddie’s eyes. ‘Eddie! You all have to get out of here! It is dangerous!’ Peter yelled and looked back when the earth rocked again, this time thanks to a combined attack of Ironman, Captain America, the Winter Soldier and the Falcon. ‘Wait you know Spiderman?’ Marc yelled and then quickly hunched in on himself as Ironman’s laser went wide, flying over their head. ‘Not now Marc, I will get the group moving Spider, you watch our backs.’ Eddie took the lead and started shoving people towards the street were the other people had gone through to evacuate. Peter nodded and turned his attention back towards the robot, shooting his webs left and right. Eddie got the group running, as he was one of the last people of the group, he looked over his shoulder just in time to see, one of Ironman’s lasers and the robot’s rocket meet in the sky. The explosion was so heavy and big that one of the billboards on side of a building came down. The group of people yelled and Spiderman jumped in the sky, with help of his web and slammed right into the board, shoving it away from the evacuates. But his webbing got stuck and Peter and the billboard fell down on the ground. Peter groaned loud and Eddie screamed, running towards the kid. Marc who is somewhere in the middle of the evacuating group yells at Eddie, but Eddie yells back at him to keep running. 

‘Peter! You okay kid?’ Eddie panted as he fell down next to Peter, looking at where the kid was injured and saw that he was stuck under the billboard and several debris. ‘Fine.’ The kid grunted out and was already pushing at the board, to get it of him. Eddie stood up and grabbed the side of the board, when he heard yelling and shouting behind him. Eddie looked over his shoulder and Peter looked up, their eyes went wide as they saw a rocket coming for them straight.  

 _Peter is stuck! We’re never_ _gonna_ _make it in time!_  

 **_EDDIE!_ ** 

Eddie closed his eyes, turned his head away and held out his hand. Venom moved over his hand and formed a big shield, shieling Eddie and Peter from the explosion. Eddie and Venom screamed as the fire and the heat from the rocket grazed them and Eddie fell to his knees once the explosion was over. ‘Eddie?’ Peter spoke quietly, his eyes big and wide and his face pale, still stuck under the board. Eddie looks at the kid, seeing him so helpless breaks something inside of him and furry grows inside his body, anger flows through their veins and Eddie lets out an inhuman growl, not noticing the way his eyes turn white. Peter pales and starts pushing hard against the board, feeling it give way.   

Eddie doesn’t notice and turns around back at the green robot and snarls, his face turning ugly. Eddie stands up and shielding Peter with his body. ‘Venom!’ Eddie yells and he feels Venom respond to him. 

‘MASK!’ 

 **‘COPY’**  

Venom answers back in a deep growling voice and moves through Eddie, forming over him. His teeth shine in the sunlight and his tongue drips drool. His black form large and still growing as Peter finally frees himself from under the billboard. He quickly stands up behind Venom and takes several steps back, his head moving up up up. ‘Peter!’ Tony yells out and lands down next to him, his faceplate opens up, ‘You alright kid?!’ Tony ask the kid, quickly eyeing the kid up and down, but seeing no severe injuries. He then looks at the kids face, seeing him pale and then looks back at the creature that now fully stands, with his back turned towards and in front of them. ‘ 

Stark.’ He hears Natasha say through his suit. ‘We found our suspect.’  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been awhile since I have updated....
> 
> The reason was because my grandmother died and the whole week has... just been strange.... and it was over so quick...
> 
> But I have another chapter in the wait so no worries, I won't let the story be abondened!


	15. The Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a little short as it fought me every step of the way, so if you see any mistakes or if their is anything unclear just message me! Next chapter will be longer. 
> 
> Warnings!  
> Blood  
> Gore  
> And specific describings of wounds?
> 
> So I edited Bucky out of this fight scene because he wasn't in New York :)

Eddie feels himself grow, Venom moves swiftly around him and over him. Rage fills his head;  _how_   _could this pathetic joke of a bad guy cause this much trouble. Peter almost got hurt!_ Together they let out a loud growl and then they’re of. Venom launches them at the robot, his claws already outstretched and swiping at the plating of the robot. The robot swerves to the side trying to push Venom of off him. Venom howls and raises his hand, bring it down with power and grabs into the plating, his black slime dripping down and obstructing the robot’s legs, bringing them down with a loud sound.  

The Avengers look on as the dark black monster attack the robot in what seems like uncontrollable rage. Steve tells the other to stay out of its way and Tony and Peter try to keep the plating, that is now flying through the air, from hitting the already damaged buildings. Natasha quickly ask Sam to get Clint from the roof and the rest walks towards each other and they form half a circle around the black creature and the robot. They now can hear the bad guy scream, begging the black monster to stop.  

Venoms anger and their combined hate blinds Eddie and the rage in his head roars, drowning out any sound. The next thing Eddie knows it that he is tearing, shredding and demolishing the robot’s plating, Venoms claws cut through it like a knife through butter. Then he reaches the head of the robot, Eddie feels their jaw extend and then there is an awful crunching sound and with a powerful haul, Venom rips the robots face off, revealing the man who controlled the robot. The man is now crying and screaming as Venom moves right in his face, Venom’s tongue curls around the man’s cheek and his grin goes from ear to ear, almost splitting his face in two. ‘ **Tassssty** **...’** Venom breaths in the man’s face and the man lets at a cry, as tears stream down his face. Eddie feels himself grin just as hard as Venom and they then grab the man around the middle and throws him out of the robot. 

The man lands on the ground with a loud scream and scrambles to get up, the moment he sees the Avengers who now to approach him, he quickly stumbles backwards right against Venoms big broad chest. He goes quiet and slowly looks up, staring straight up in Venoms face, some of Venom’s drool lands on his face and he whimpers. Venom then grabs the villain and squeezes, earning them a scream, when they hear the sound of a gun cocking. Venom looks over their victim’s head and sees that all of the Avengers are aiming their weapons at them. Then Spiderman slowly steps forward, he looks up at them, a small tremble running through his body. ‘Eddie?’ Peter almost whispers and then points at the villain in venoms hands. ‘Could you... maybe put him down?’ Peter says, ask, his voice higher than normal, Stark steps in front of the kid the moment Venom just let’s go of the man. The man lands with a pained grunt and is quickly cuffed by Steve.  

Stark now opens his faceplates and looks the monster up and down, his lasers go up again, focusing on Venom’s face. Venom growls, only agitating Stark further. ‘Eddie?’ Tony tries, giving Peter a side-eyed look, seeing the kid nod, but Venom only growls, feeling Eddie starting to panic.  _What should I_ _do_ _...._ _?_ _What should I do_ _?_ _What_ _shouldIdoWhatshouldIdo_ _?_  Eddie had been high on anger and power, it was still easy when they just had a bad guy to focus on, but now he was confronted with the Avengers.  ** _Angry Avengers, Eddie...._** _NOT HELPING V!_  

Eddie squirms and feels Venom sigh, suddenly Venoms pulls away, his pitch-black mass flowing and quickly disappearing inside him, leaving Eddie to stand alone in front of the Avengers. The group is getting ready to surround him, as Peter goes to stand in front of Eddie, pulling of his mask, the look in his eye something akin to betrayal. Eddie swallows nervously and quickly glances around him, making a mental note of which Avenger stands were and what was the fastest way to escape. ‘Eddie?’ Peter starts of, his voice shakes and sound nervous. ‘What... Why are... You were the one who attacked me in that alleyway that night weren’t you?’ Peter then swallowed hard and quickly looked between Eddie and Tony, then back again at Eddie. ‘Why did you... why did you leave me behind?’  _The kid_ _sounded_ _so sad when he asked him that... what could he answer? Sorry I panicked? No...._  

When Eddie didn’t answer fast enough Tony pulled Peter behind him and stood in front of Eddie. ‘Enough talking Peter, this is the suspect we were looking for, if we weren’t so rudely interrupted by that pathetic excuse of a villain. He is a criminal and dangerous Peter.’ Stark finished and Eddie who’s thought had still been wandering between what to say and escaping, snapped his head up. ‘Peter... I’m sorry.’ Was the last thing Eddie got to say, as Starks faceplate slid back on his face and fired his lasers at Eddie. Venom growled and quickly shielded Eddie, howling in pain and rage as the lasers burned their flesh.  Then they were of running, leaving Peter in the dust behind them. 

Natasha shouted at Tony and Steve to go after him, she and Clint would deliver the villain to the police. Sam quickly leapt into the air for ground support and flew after Tony, who quickly took up contact with Rhodey, who had been in charge of the safe evacuation "of civilians. ‘Rhodey, I send you coordinates, come as fast as you can." "Roger that, Tony!’ Tony had activated his thrusters the moment that black monster appeared again and gave chase immediately. He had left Peter with Bruce and Natasha; the kid would be safe. He looked quickly to his left, seeing Sam following after him, from behind he heard the sound of a motorcycle and saw that  Steve was trying to follow after him, but then the monster disappeared in to an alleyway and Captain America had to stop his chase as the monster went to climbing the wall and over the rooftop. Once Tony to had reached the rooftop, firing lasers at the running creature, he saw Rhodey meeting them half way. ‘The hell is that thing Stark!’ He heard Rhodey yell at him through their communications and yelled back ‘Keep shooting Rhodey , try to slow it down!’  

Eddie was in a state of complete panic. Peter knew.... he KNEW!  He couldn’t know, never! What are we gonna do now Eddie? Venom tried to ask Eddie, but Eddie was shutting him out in his panic.  ** _EDDIE_**! Venom’s shout stopped Eddie in his tracks, leaving them completely unsheltered on the rooftop of some big building, Ironman, the Falcon and the War Machine, now slowly circling him, wary of any sudden movements. ‘I wanna go home V...’ Eddie said quietly, but Venom understood the underlying meaning.  _Safety._  

But Tony was tired of waiting, he was consulting Jarvis what the most vital point of the creature in front of him were and fired his strongest and biggest rockets at the monster. ‘A direct hit, sir.’ Jarvis told him, showing the images of a wounded creature howling and slamming its hands into the roof top, breaking it and flinging the pieces of debris towards them with great strength and speed. Sam was just in time to avoid a big piece of brick to the head. ‘Whoa!’ Shouted Rhodey as one of the black monster’s tentacles made a grab at him and got hold of his leg, flinging him into Tony, who was distracted by watching Sam ducking and knocking them both out of the air. It then began running again, ‘Shit it’s fast!’ Sam yelled, trying to be heard and ducking down, making a swipe at the creature. Tony still couldn’t believe there was a human inside of it.  

It kept throwing itself from rooftop towards rooftop, occasionally jumping down an alleyway and running through it, slamming itself through little brick walls trying to swerve its pursuers of. Its black tentacles picking up trashcans and throwing it at them, Tony kept firing his lasers and shot them out of the air. Tony growled when he was hit by one, the others stopped and helped him back on his feet, they rounded the corner just in time to see the monster escape through an open window and into an apartment building. ‘We got him.’ Tony said confident, already communicating with Steve and Natasha to get them towards their location.  

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

 

Eddie opened his eyes, it was quiet inside the room, slowly he looked around himself, recognizing it as his apartment. His laptop still stood open, from his hurry to get to work, next to it his half drunken coffee, now cold and forgotten. The dirty dishes in the sink and the quiet hum of the refrigerator. Venom to was quiet, now back inside Eddie, squirming with anxiety. Eddie sighed, his alert posture now slouching and walked towards the window ‘They gone V?’ Eddie asked, but no answer was heard for the second Eddie looked out of the window they were hit by a massive explosion. Eddie shouted and was flung through the air, through his apartment and into the floor. Venom groaned but Eddie was out cold, as the Avengers broke into the apartment. Sam, Tony and Rhodey went through the now large open hole inside the wall. Natasha and Steve made their way in through the door, that Steve had forced open. Tony looked up at them and almost yelled, ’Why aren’t you two with the kid?’ Natasha looked unimpressed at him and said, ‘Peter can take care of himself Tony, but Bruce, Clint, Wanda and Vision stayed behind.’ She then took a step towards their suspect. 

They saw Eddie lying and wriggling in his own pool of blood, on the ground, Venom grunted and panted, trying to heal Eddie as fast as possible, to keep the idiot from dying. The Avengers approached with caution all of them had their weapons ready, Tony kept his lasers trained on the person in front of him, but opened his faceplate, trying to get a better look at the man on the ground. Jarvis had scanned the man and was now reciting all the wounds their suspect, Eddie Tony thought, had sustained from the explosion. ‘Several cracked ribs, a broken arm as well a broken leg. A severe concussion and three of his fingers appear to be missing. There is also a large and deep flesh wound on his left side, we should probably close that wound as it is life threatening. He has already lost quite a lot of blood, sir.’ Tony nodded and opened his faceplates. 

At that moment Eddie woke up slowly. He tried to open his eyes but the room around him was spinning, he groaned and tried to roll on his side, but immediately clutched his left side, his arms wrapping around himself as his hands found the wound and pressed against it. Eddie yelled and shrunk into himself.  _Pain.... it hurts...._ _iT_ _HurTSHURTSHURTHURHTURHTURHURTS_ _!_ Venom growled, his anger grew,  ** _how could these hero’s hurt HIS Eddie. Had they not protected the_** ** _Spiderkid_** ** _? Had they not defeated the bad guy and ripped him from his robotic device? Was it not thanks to them that they had captured their bad guy! WHY?_**  

Venom howled and took control of Eddie’s body, now that he was trying to keep them from dying, he couldn’t cover Eddie and keep him inside of them, but he could control his limbs. So, he forced them to stand up, staying on the ground only made them seem weak and a bigger target then they already were. They panted with rage and black slime seeped out of the wound on their side, trying to close the wound up but failing. Venom took a step towards Stark, but only then noticed the broken leg that stood wrong, Eddie grunted and tried to take control of his body, fighting Venom trying to go back down, to stop moving! Venom snarled and Eddie, who was now half hunched over, scrunched up his face, an ugly look taking place. Natasha and the others all took a step backwards when Eddie stood back up straight, his eyes were glazed over white and when Venom snarled, the teeth they revealed looked even sharper than before.  _N_ _ot human_  went through Steve’s mind. They turned around, black lines forming on their face, following Eddie’s veins, towards Stark and they took a step forward, at the same moment Venom snapped the bone in their leg back in place. A sickening crack filled the now quiet apartment and Steve flinched, holding up his shield even higher.  

Eddie and Venom now stood eye to eye with Stark, their breath heavy and white eyes boring into Tony’s. ‘ **WHY?’**  Tony took a step backwards, Eddie may not be a lot taller than Tony but now that his face looked so sharp, his eyes an unnatural color, it was quiet disturbing for him to be so close that Tony could feel his breath on his face. ‘Why?’ he asked unsure, holding his lasers ready to fire, but not sure if he should fire, as he was afraid to hit his friends and to be honest a bit scared by Eddie, who now took another step forward. Eddie groaned and Venom let the sound slip through, his arm coming up to cover the still bleeding wound, they looked down towards their left arm who was still hanging useless at his side. Venom growled about the damage and with another sharp and sickening sound the bone was pulled back inside flesh and the arm stood straight again, Eddie moved the arm around feeling it and then held up his hand towards his face, his face scrunching up again when he saw his three fingers missing. They wailed and stumbled backwards, Venom’s rage started growing again, Stark was not answering his question!  

‘ **WHY!!! WHY DID YOU HURT USSSSS!** ’ Venom snarled and faught Eddie for control who whimpered, groaned and stumbled, his broken leg not fully healed yet. ‘ **WE SAVED YOU. WE CAUGHT THE BAD GUY! WE ARE HEROSSSSSSS.’**  Venom hissed, snarled, shoving Eddie's face right in front of Tony’s, who stood his ground, now getting angry. ‘YOU! Are no hero!’ Tony yelled into their face, ‘You are just a wanna be! You are the one who hurt Peter!’ Tony shouted and stabbed Eddie in the chest with his finger. Venom growled, but Eddie whined and the Avengers could hear a faint sorry escaping from the man’s lips. ‘You’re not a hero, you are a monster.’ Tony finished his tirade, his eyes wide with anger, but soon fear as Venom howled and tried to make a grab for him.  

‘Incoming.’  

Tony heard Clint’s voice in his ears and not a second later an arrow prodded from the monster’s right shoulder. The creature looked just as confused as Tony felt, the arrow in its shoulder was no ordinary one, it had looked like a sharp needle and on the end of it sat a capsule. Within another 5 seconds, a second arrow hit the monster in the other shoulder, it howled but dropped his arms. The white in Eddie’s eyes disappeared, as did his sharp teeth and snarl on his face. The man now stumbled around, almost in a circle and then collapsed down on the ground. ‘What just happened?’ Tony asked no one in peculiar, but Natasha took a step towards the man now on the ground. The black slime moved sluggishly over his wounds but did not engage with them anymore, now focusing on healing the many wounds. 

‘Clint happened.’ She answered, crouching down and cuffing Eddie, only to look up at Tony and said, ‘Those were special designed arrows for Bruce. He designed them himself, they’re filled with tranquilizers that can bring down at least ten horses you know, for when the big guy would go rampage...’ She ended her sentence and waved Steve over, Steve hauled Eddie’s unresponsive up and swung him over his shoulder. She then looked back at Tony, not saying anything and letting her words sink in. ‘You’re welcome.’ Tony heard Clint say, Sam had picked him up from the opposite building and together they came in through the hole in the wall. Tony let out a deep sigh and Steve looked at the others and said, ‘Let’s go.’ As a team they left the now trashed and tarnished apartment, not once looking back.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me guys know what you think is gonna happen next, I'm curious! 
> 
> Next chapter is going to have several different POV's, see you guy's next time!


	16. It's a Kind of Funny, It's a Kind of Sad, Dreams in Which I'm Dying Are the Best I Ever Had.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many Many Many THANKS to my awesome Beta: AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy! 
> 
> Thank you so much for helping me writing and correcting this story!
> 
> For all my readers, thank you all for you awesome comments!  
> I really love to read them all, they make me very happy! :D
> 
> Edit: Warning! Characters may seem to act out of character!  
> Stay tuned for explanation!

\------------------------------------- Location Unknown -------------------------------------

  
Eddie’s head throbs. A thick headache has settled behind his eyes, and he can feel Venom move around weakly, almost sluggish. _Uggghhh, not good...._ Eddie tries to move, but immediately finds that he can’t move his arms. Nervously, he opens his eyes, but quickly shuts them again, a sharp and bright light shining directly into his eyes. “Ughh....” Eddie groans and blinks, hearing movement around him and quickly checks his mental bond with Venom, but gets no reaction back. “V....?” Eddie whispers and opens his eyes when he hears someone stop beside him. Eddie turns his head towards the person and glares, struggling against his bonds, only now realizing how much they tied him up. _But who are they? What happened?_ Eddie thinks, panicked, and tries to give himself a quick over. He is strapped to a metal table, his wrists are bound by metal bonds, as are his ankles, waist, chest and forehead. _I can’t remember! How long was I out? What happened? V!_  

  
“Rise and shine, sunshine!” A sarcastic voice says right next to his ear, making Eddie flinch and shy away from it. His eyes find the person, and Stark looks at him very unpleasantly, and Eddie grinches. Stark ignores him and looks over to Banner. “Wanna sedate him again or...?” Stark asks and looks back at Eddie who made a high-pitched sound.

 

“What are you two doing! What is happening, I did nothing–”

 

At that moment Stark cuts him off, “You did NOTHING? Don’t try to kid me, Brock. You are a murderer and we have the evidence. You are nothing more than a man-eating monster.” Stark finishes his tirade, clenching his hands and gritting his teeth. Eddie looks like he had just been stabbed, his being filled with shame. “I never wanted to...” Eddie starts but trails off. He doesn’t want to tell them anything about Venom.     
  
  
Then Banner comes over and looks at Eddie, “I’m sorry Eddie, but due to SHIELD... you... don’t exists anymore.” Banner says, looking nervous but also a little sad, like it hurts him to see Eddie like this. “I don’t what?” Eddie says disbelieving, his eyebrows raise and his mouth falls open, panic starting to rise once more. “No... NO! Nononono! You can’t do that!” Eddie shouts, struggling again and pulling on his bonds, “Anne will be worried! She and Dan will come looking for me! They will find out what you’re doing!” Eddie screams and wriggles around until Stark tasers him, shutting him up very quickly.  Eddie groans, tears forming in his eyes when waves of electricity shoot searing pain throughout his body.

 

“Tony...” Banner warns Stark and walks over to them, “I’m sorry Eddie, but we don’t decide what SHIELD does. They saw you as a great danger and have decided to make you disappear. Even if it wasn’t you, Eddie, people were murdered. It’s already decided, Eddie...” Banner sighs when he sees Eddie look at him, eyes wide with fear.

 

“And... now?” Eddie asks quietly, his breath heavy as he was feeling on the verge of a panic attack.    
  
  
Banner looks at Stark and back at Eddie, “SHIELD has ordered us to see what makes you tick... Please Eddie, don’t think this is us doing this to you. We don’t enjoy doing what we are going to do, but know that it is necessary.” Banner says and then walks out of sight, Eddie quickly look back to his left where Stark is still standing.

 

“Bruce may not enjoy this, Eddie, but I sure will.” Stark snarls, his threat loud and clear, fury in his eyes as he walks towards wherever Banner disappeared to.    
  
  
For the five minutes that Eddie is alone he tries to contact Venom. “V?” Eddie whispers but soon starts shouting, “VENOM!” Eddie tries again, “Please V, say something!” Eddie fights against his bindings, pulling and kicking, trying to escape but failing miserably.

 

“He isn’t going to answer you.” Stark says as they both walk in again, Banner is pushing some kind of metal table towards him, a large device on top of it. Eddie strains to see what’s on it, but Starks steps in front of it. Eddie’s eyes fly back to his face.  

 

“What did you do to Venom?!” Eddie growls at Stark, his lip curling back to reveal his teeth, but Stark looks unimpressed.

 

“I’m not afraid of you Brock, without that black ‘symbiote’ of yours, you are just an ordinary man,” Stark says, but leaves Eddie in the dark about Venom.

 

Banner appears in front of Eddie, little suction cups in his hands and attaches them to little wires. Eddie shivers as Banner places them on his head. Banner looks at him and smiles sadly. “It helps us read your brainwaves and energy levels and shows us how the symbiote reacts to the.... uhhh... stimulation.” Banner ends lamely and quickly turns back towards the table and back again, putting more of those annoying little things all over Eddie’s body.    
  
  
Once Stark and Banner are done prodding his body, they leave to stand behind a closed off window shield, behind some big hologram computer and out of Eddie’s view. Eddie starts thrashing in his bindings, panicking and calling Venom’s name, feeling anxious and the ominous feeling that is creeping up to him. He hears Stark say to Banner that everything is ready. _What is ready? What are they going to do?!_ Panicked, Eddie tries to look at them just a little more and then he catches Stark looking at him. The man tries to keep his face carefully blank, as pain erupts in Eddie's body. Eddie screams his lungs out of his body, violently spasming and thrashing on the table. Luckily, his head is also strapped to the table, otherwise he would have given himself a concussion due to the way he thrashes when his body screams at him, his head banging in place on the table.  
  
  
He doesn’t know how long the test lasts. The last thing Eddie knows is a violent and never-ending explosion of pain.  
  
  
  
  
\--------------------------------- SHIELD headquarters ---------------------------------  
  
“Mister Stark!” Tony doesn’t look back. He doesn’t have to because the voice already tells him who it is. He can hear the kid's rapidly falling footsteps approaching him. The kid is running, but trying to hide that he is running towards Stark, probably trying not to embarrass himself. Tony smirks at that, just a little, but the smile quickly falls away again when his thoughts turn dark as he thinks about the job he has to do tomorrow. _Brock is a thick-headed fool. Instead of telling us anything, he hides in that head of his and lets us do whatever is necessary to get him to talk... Well we are going to find our answers no matter how hard he tries._  
  
  
“Mister Stark, please, just a second!” Peter tries again and catches the end of Stark's sleeve to make him stop. Tony turns around, looking at the kid who is now out of breath and trying to compose himself. “What is it Peter? You know I’m a little busy at the moment.” Tony says, putting his hand on Peter shoulder to steady him and with his other hand he pushes his sunglasses up his head. Peter looks up at him, “Mister Stark, can I please talk to Eddie?” Peter starts but Tony cuts him off immediately.

 

“NO. No Peter, you may not. That Brock is a dangerous monster. He has already hurt you once, Peter, and I’m not going to let that happen a second time.” Tony grinds out, letting go of Peter, turning around and walking away from the kid.    
  
  
“But Mister Stark! Eddie isn’t a bad guy, I've known him for a long time, and I know that whatever happened isn’t his fault. I’m sure this is all some big misunderstanding!” Peter shouts, running after Tony again. _Why doesn’t the kid understand that Brock is dangerous?!_ Tony thinks, ridiculed by the words of the kid. _It hurt him! Peter almost died!_ “Mister Stark, I just really wanna talk to him, please let me talk to him! That way I can ask him why he attacked those people! And Captain Rogers also agrees with me! He also doesn’t understand why you guys took Eddie prisoner. He even said it was Bucky all over again... thought I didn’t really understand that last part, it probably got something to do with that big fight between you and–” Peter cuts himself off as he half-runs, half-stumbles past Tony and quickly turns around and puts his hand on Tony shoulder, trying to make him stop walking. Tony glares at the kid, feeling bristled as the kid brought up the fight between him and Cap. As he looks down, he can still see the glimmer of hope in the boy’s eyes. Tony feels himself growing frustrated. _Why won’t the kid understand!_

  
“Steve's got nothing to do with this, and I know you're trying to manipulate me by mentioning Rogers but that’s not going to work, kid.” Tony mumbles, not trying to think about how Steve had gripped him by the shoulders when they had handed over Brock to SHIELD, yelling at Tony. As if Tony knew what SHIELD wanted with Brock.

 

“But.... he really didn’t want to hurt me, why did he save me then, while I was being crushed by that billboard? Eddie isn’t a bad guy, I’m sure!” Peter tried one more time.  

  
“You idiot, you selfish idiot!” Stark growls and grips Peter’s hands that rest upon his shoulders, “This is not about the murder-scene Peter, or him saving you. This is about Brock hurting you! He almost murdered you, kid! Why don’t you understand? Brock is dangerous, a murderer. He ate his victims, Peter or did you forget you too were almost his dinner?” Tony hisses and yells, his hair in disarray and falling in front over his eyes, Tony irritated wipes them away, putting his face right in front of Peter.   _Kid is almost just as thick-headed as that other idiot._ Stark thinks irritated and shoves Peter away from him, the kid looks scared, confused but there is a tiny bit of hope that shines on the kids face. “But I’m sure!” Peter tries again and Stark groans, his hands going to his head and grips his hair pulling at it to show the kid he is desperate.  

  
“Peter. SHIELD is the one you should talk to. You know, I only do what I do, because of Fury and the rest of them. I’m not letting you talk to that monster, Peter, and that is final.” Stark says and walks past the kid and away from him.   _If the kid knew what we did to Brock, what would he think of me...?_  And Tony gets lost as his thoughts turn darker and darker, not noticing the way Peter turns around a defiant look on his face and his shoulders set square, determination filling his eyes as he walks away.  
  
  
  
  
  
\----------------------------------- Location Unknown -----------------------------------  
  
With a shock Eddie wakes up, he feels his body trying to sit up right, but the binds only bite into his flesh when he tries. Eddie groans, closing his eyes against the assaulting light and blinking them open again, to look around the room. The device with which they hurt him the last time is gone. Eddie shudders as he remembers the way the electricity coursed through him, how it had burned his nerves, seared his flesh and lighted up the dark behind his eyes. The smell that hung in the air once it stopped, the hope he had felt that this was the last test and how everything seemed to fall apart when it all started again. Fire in his veins and screams in his head, Venom had said nothing during those tests. Eddie didn’t know if Venom was still drugged or that the pain was affecting him too...    
  
They had given him a day off, whether to lick his wounds and heal, or just because they needed to process their newly gained information to their superiors, Eddie doesn't know. He is glad for the quiet day but dreads what is coming, losing his sense of time, not knowing what day it was nor even if it was day or night. Eddie is growing more desperate with every second that goes by, and Venom not answering his calls makes him panic. Eddie tries to turn in his binds, finding a spot that made lying on the metal table a little more comfortable – if anyone could be comfortable in his position – and heaves a deep sigh. He is so tired, even though he just woke up from sleep. Shuffling again, Eddie feels his clothes stick to him. _When was the last time I had a bath?_  His clothes feel sticky and damp, Eddie tries to lift himself up a little, moving his head towards his chest and sniffs. _Yep... They also_ _smell, like a lot._ “Ugghhhh...” Eddie lets out a deep groan, letting himself fall back on the table, closing his eyes, trying to fall back asleep.  
  
  
  
Eddie is startled awake when the door opens with a loud sound. He quickly blinks the sleep out of his eyes and turns towards Stark and Banner who had come in. Banner looks at him, the look on his face filled with compassion.   _Don’t look at me like that! If you feel like that then get me of this table, asshole!_

 

Eddie grumbles in his mind, the annoyance clear as day on his face, making Banner shuffle and quickly walk towards Stark who had just ignored him fully. Together, they go to stand at the big hologram computer, or whatever the hell that thing is called. Eddie’s mood sours, now that he understands that the tests aren’t over – they have only just begun.  
  
  
  
  
  
\-----------------------------------------------------Hell-----------------------------------------------------  
  
They keep assaulting Eddie’s body with tests, trying to see what makes them tick. What happens if we do this or that? Stark and Banner keep conducting test after test on him. Sometimes, they give him a day off, giving Venom extra time to heal his body. Those days they observe from behind a glass wall. Sometimes, Eddie is too injured to leave him on the metal table. Those days some of Banner’s assistants come in, after sedating him heavily and Eddie is too tired walk, they have to carry him out of the examination-room. Then they let him rest in a secured room, with a real bed! Eddie knows that that room is filled with cameras and other kinds of sensors, because they know it, the moment he is awake.    
  
  
They also feed him very little, and most times it’s just dead meat, mostly pork and beef. Why they think that he only eats meat, Eddie doesn’t know, but those are the times Venom becomes a little more active though he doesn’t speak to Eddie, but Eddie can feel him move around and grumble. Banner and Stark also observe him when he eats, probably more tests, Eddie thinks, but he doesn’t comment on it. They wouldn’t have answered him anyway. Last time they brought in a whole cow, a WHOLE cow! Eddie felt it immediately when Venom took over, because the next thing he knew was that the cow was gone, he was sitting on the ground holding on to a large piece of meat and in front of him only lay the ribs and a piece of spine of the cow. Wherever the rest had gone to Eddie had no idea, but judging by the looks on the faces of Banner and Stark, it probably wasn’t the best idea to ask. That was also the first day they let him shower, seeing as he was covered in cow blood and pieces. Well a shower... They had forced Eddie into a corner of the room and proceeded to hose him off, the water was cold and Eddie had snarled at them, feeling Venom crawl over his skin, but it didn’t scare them off. They knew he was weak, that the food they had given him couldn’t possibly sustain them for long.    
  
  
When they finally stop with the electricity tests, they proceed on with fire. Thanks to the kid, they now know that fire is a weakness to them – well, at least a big fire. They start the test with holding a candle against his skin. For that Eddie has to lose his T-shirt. From the very first day he had lost his favorite hoodie as they proceeded with the tests, but now they needed to have a good look at his skin and bye-bye T-shirt. After seeing that the candle doesn’t do much damage, still it hurt a lot, they proceed to put out cigarettes against his skin. That hurts like a bitch and leaves Eddie groaning, trying to pull away from them, but it doesn't work due to the metal bonds that keep his wrists in place. They find it fascinating the way Venom’s black form had appeared on and over Eddie’s skin like spiderwebs, trying to knit the skin back together. After that, they begin to use bigger sources of fire. It starts with burning pieces of fabric tied to his arms and progresses to him standing tied up against a wall and them firing heavy rockets at him. Those tests take longer because Venom has a difficult time healing Eddie from those blasts. They give him a week off, after the day they torch him with a flamethrower.    
  
  
After those tests are over, they move on to see Venom’s reaction towards water. At first, Eddie laughs right into their faces. _What harm could they possibly do with water?!_ Eddie thinks, he keeps snickering as they had sedate him, so he can't move his arms or legs and strap him to a metal chair, making him sit up. They strap his head to it, so that he can't move his head away from them. At first, they make him drink a lot of water, which only results in Eddie really needing a toilet break (which they don’t give him). After two days, Eddie just lets go. No one says anything, but Eddie’s face is red with shame and rage. Since there is enough water, they just hose him of again.    
  
  
The second test is to dump a large container filled with water over his head, resulting in Eddie gasping for air for a few seconds but Venom had quickly filtered the water out of his lungs, and Eddie's perfectly fine again. Due to the water-test not being as effective as they thought, they don't give Eddie a lot of rest. They keep going and going. They test his durability, making him sit with his feet in ice cold water, Venom had a difficult time keeping him warm, running on little fumes. They test his psyche, putting a leaking bucket above his head and letting the water fall, drop by drop. It's tiring – Eddie can’t sleep thanks to the ice-cold drips on his head. At first, he tries to count them, but after the 350.239.123 drop, he stops and Venom roars inside his mind. After a while, he had just fainted, with not a care in the world. The last test consists of just drowning Eddie. They unbind Eddie from his chair, making him kneel in front of a large dark iron bathtub, and they shove his head under. Try after try they keep him under for longer and longer, and when they let him up, it takes Venom longer and longer to filter the water out of Eddie’s lungs, making him gasp for air.    
  
  
“He might as well breath water,” Stark comments before turning back towards the computer. Eddie has no idea what they were watching on it but it couldn’t be pretty. While Eddie is still dazed by his last drowning, a big guy comes in and picks him up. _Finally_ , Eddie thinks: _they will take me to my cell, so I can take a nap, a rest. Let Venom heal me up. Maybe they will let me go?_ But the man does no such thing. He walks over towards an opening in the floor, which Eddie hadn’t noticed before, and dumps Eddie into it. The moment Eddie hits the ice-cold water he loses his breath. _COLD_ was the only thing on his mind as he sunk towards the bottom. Within seconds, his survival-instincts set in and he tries to swim upwards again, only to hit his head against a glass plate. Eddie panicks as he looks through the glass at the scientists who gather around the hole. He feels Venom roar, filtering their lungs and trying to keep them alive. Eddie starts to bang on the glass. But they are weak, thanks to a poor diet and all the painful tests run on them. He doesn't know how long they have been in the water but Eddie is just losing conscious when the glass plate is removed and the big guy pulls him out of the water, leaving Eddie to gasp and cough up water on the side of the pool.  

  
“Impressive, Brock. 45 minutes without breathing. I think you just broke a world record.” Stark says, looking down on Eddie as he just throws up more water. Stark gives him a kick in the side and looks back at his helpers, “Get him to his cell.” As he walks away, Eddie follows him with his eyes, and Venom is howling inside his mind, thrashing inside his ribcage and demanding a sacrifice. Eddie, too, is screaming and damning Stark and his people to hell. _I refuse Stark, I refuse. You will not break us, we will not break._ Eddie swears, hearing Venom tune in, as his face tightens with refold as he feels Venom anger now mixing with his own. The scientist who were trying to get Eddie back to his feet, quickly let go of him as they hear the growls Venom emits and one of them lets out a terrified yelp, when he sees Eddie’s eyes glaze over white and a snarl appears on Eddie face.

 

“I refuse Stark, I refuse,” Eddie whispers and the scowl on his face turns into a smile. Glee fills his being and Eddie starts laughing, first a soft hick-up, then a full-belly laugh, that turns into a mad-laugh that leads Eddie’s throat to bleed and the scientist don’t know what to do.

 

“Did we break him?” one of the scientists whispers, grabbing another scientist for support, as the others stay quiet.    
  
  
Eddie shakes on the ground, his arms wrapped around him, his laughter filling the room, looking at Stark's retreating steps as the corners of his vision blacken.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping to make you guys happy with the next upcoming chapter!  
> More will be explaint then!


	17. I refuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So long time no see!
> 
> I'm so sorry but this and the next chapter (coming up soon!) really fought me!
> 
> Also not yet read by my beta, but I really really wanted to update this chapter!  
> Any fault is mine!

** \-----------------------------------------------SHIELD research ** ** - ** ** center------------------------------------------ **

“Tell me Bruce, why is our super-monster-alien DYING?” Tony drawls,  trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice,  as he walks in, holding two cups of coffee and giving one to Bruce who stands in front of a big computer. 

“ Don’t know yet Tony. ”  Bruce replies as he takes a sip of his coffee, his other had is moving and typing on the hologram computer in front of him. 

“Well..., we better start finding out or SHIELD is going to be up both our asses!” Tony sa ys , trying to mix in his usual sarcasm but failing, as he thought about the threats, SHIELD had threatened them with. 

_ They can’t lock Bucky up, Steve is finally happy to have his friend back... And Natasha,  _ _ surely, _ _  they wouldn’t put her on death row! She is an amazing hero and helped us so many times, even  _ _ though _ _  she is an enemy assassin! And the tone they had taken with Bruce! They had scared the warm good man to his  _ _ whit's _ _! They couldn't do those things, right? _ _ And God! The moment, the heads of SHIELD, had started throwing Peter in the mix Tony had become furious _ ! Bruce turned towards him , noticing the way Tony’s hands shake while holding on the dear life at his coffee cup  and smile s  sadly, knowing what Tony  is  thinking about.

“Tony, please calm down. We can’t do anything Tony. Just be  g lad that Fury has our back. He will remind those people to no touch any of us... as long as we do our job.” Bruce trie s  to encourage Tony, knowing full well that the other man  is  worrying. 

Tony only nodded, hearing Bruce but not reacting, still lost in his thoughts.  _ He had to admit, he had looked forward to see what made Brock thick and to research that symbiote of his, but now! Peter had already cornered him once about talking to Brock...  Peter knew there was something wrong, but Tony couldn’t stop now could he, not with every Avengers future on the line! With the last water-experiments he had tried to bury his fears under stone-cold sarcasm, but now Brock was sick, it just became harder and harder. _

“I think we need to take a few scans, maybe an MRI-scan and a CAT-scan can show us what is wrong with Eddie.” Bruce s ays , trying to bring Tony back and taking Tony and his own mind off gloomy  thoughts,  putting his coffee down and turning towards a big screen. The screen showed Eddie laying on a cot, inside a white room. 

_ Brock probably sees it as a cell. _  Tony thinks and turns away from the screen. The talk between Peter and himself still fresh on his mind, even Steve had tried to talk to Tony about Brock.  _ As if Tony liked experimenting on another human. Well Brock hardly could be described as a human, seeing that he could turn into a fucking monster!  _ _ But still... things just weren’t alright.  _

Tony zoned out, due to that he almost didn’t hear Bruce calling his name.

“Tony?” Bruce loo ks  at him with concerned eyes. Tony, already frustrated thanks to Peter trying to talk to Brock, Cap and his human rights and even the other Avengers questioning Tony’s orders, snarls at Bruce. 

“ WHAT? ”  Bruce doesn't look faced by his angry response and turns back towards the camera footage, waving at it and looking at him. 

“ I think it is wise to do a few medical scans, see what is wrong with him. You know that he eats everything we put in front of him. But mostly he seems to favor raw meat, maybe that is upsetting his stomach. ”  Bruce mutters the last part, looking intently at the footage of Brock not moving. 

“ Uggh , I don’t care Bruce. Just do it, before SHIELD has their way with us.” Tony grumbles, looking at the screen  his inter ested  picked . 

“ He’s on the move Tony. ”  Bruce says and Tony to follows Brocks movements as he walks around the room. Brock seems completely out of it, stumbling and falling several times. It looks like he has a fever, Brocks eyes are awfully sunken and the man is as white as a sheet. 

“ There he goes. ”  Tony says as the both of them look at Brock, bringing up his breakfast. 

“Seems like fish doesn’t fully agree with him. Well at least that made the last food test...” Bruce sighs , looking down in his tablet to check off something on a list, looking up just in time to  cringe as Brock loses his footing and falls face first inside the puddle of his own sick. 

“ We better start those medical procedures right away. ”  Tony says, looking at Bruce and then turns around, walking towards their lab and shouting orders at the other SHIELD-scientists to get an operation room ready. 

Once everything is ready, the helpers bring in Brock. Tony’s eyebrows furrow together and Bruce looks on concerned as the scientist lay Brock down on a stretcher. 

“ He’s not even fighting today. ”  Bruce whispers to Tony, moving towards the computer-screens that will show them the scan-results. Tony stays, looking at Brock for a few more moments before he turns around and goes to stand beside Bruce. Then they lower Brock into the X-ray machine, which will also make an MRI and CT-scan at the same time. The moment Bruce flips the switch, hell breaks loose.

Brock flies up from where he is tied down on the stretcher and the noise he makes, is not human! His screams are animalistic and it is the electric experiments all over. Brock is shaking, squirming, twisting and wreathing, trying to get out of his bounds. His whole body convulses and his eyes roll back in his head. The machine is also beeping and screaming at them, scan-results filling the screen so fast that Tony doesn’t know where to look. Then, thank God, Bruce turns of the machine and the other scientist pull Brock out of the X-Ray machine, which proves difficult seeing as the black slime has filled the tube and is now sticking to every surface. Brock is now awfully quiet and Tony fears for a minute that the man is dead, but quickly exhales when he sees the man's chest rise up again. 

After a minute or two the black slime retreats back inside Brocks body and Bruce now to lets out a heavy sigh. The two man look at each other and then back at the results, Tony gives an absent order to bring Brock back towards his cell and then moves even closer towards the screens. 

“ Bruce... D id  you see what I see? ”  Tony whispers, his nose almost touching the screens in front of him, the light falling on his face and giving it a sickly blue glow. 

“ Yes Tony, whatever is possessing Brock is eating him. ”  Bruce whispers  yells  back,  heart still pounding away,  together the two man stare at the pictures of organs that are critically failing to function, big chunks are gone, taken from the liver and one kidney is completely missing! There is also a lot of bodyfat gone, Tony had noticed that one a few days earlier, mentioning to Bruce that even though they fed Brock he was getting skinnier. Another scan showed them that there now were multiply tumors in several body parts and that the heart was having a hard time, Brock ’s  blood pressure was going up and down  way  to fast. Both men didn’t even start about the results the brain-scan brought them. 

“Tony.... We should show this to Fury.” Bruce says, still horrified by what he had seen and his heart still pounding in his chest because of the way that Brock had screamed and fought. Tony was looking at the screens but his thought went on a whole different route .  _ Sure, he cared for the man and he hated to be the one in charge of these experiments but this was new! _ __

“ Bruce, why did Brock fight the scans so much? Why did it seem like he was in pain? ”  Tony asks Bruce, turning towards him, his eyes glimmering, mind racing a mile an hour. 

“ What? What do you mean? Tell me Tony! You look like you have found the answer already. ”  Bruce stammers, looking at Tony face that is radiating a scary kind of excitement. When Tony finally answers him, chills fall down his back. 

“Bruce. We found another of the symbiote’s weaknesses. High-frequency sounds.” Tony smiled, SMILED at Bruce, who quickly replies, “Oh good, yes it looked... uhm... very effective. Can we now focus on Brock dying? Tony.... Tony?” But Tony wasn’t listening anymore, his mind running circles on how he could build a weapon, that emitted high frequency sounds as fast as possible, incase Brock made a run for  it , but it  was mostly the genius in his mind that was seeing a complex problem and wanting, no needing to solve it.  But Tony knew that the heads of SHIELD had them cornered and that they needed a weapon against this creature, otherwise they wouldn't drop their death treads at his friends, his family!

Bruce sighed, turning away from Tony, a frown and concern clearly on his face.  “ I’m going to inform Fury, Tony. ”  Bruce says, but Tony doesn’t hear him, completely lost in his mind. 

“ Wish we knew  how to stop him from dying.. . ”  Bruce sighs again, slumping a bit and then braces himself for the meeting with Fury and the heads of SHIELD. 

** \--------------------------------------------------SHIELD Cell------------------------------------------------- **

The room is quiet, the white walls blind Eddie as he opens his eyes for a third time, still blinking very hard. Venom is howling in his mind and moving violently through his chest. Eddie heaves a sigh and proceeds to let out little and soft shushing sounds, trying to calm his friend down. He then tries to sit up on the cot SHIELD calls a bed.  “ Ugghhhrr ... ”  Eddie groans, his body is stiff and clammy, as he looks around the cell. 

The moment SHIELD had put him inside of it, they had searched every nook and cranny for an escape route, but there was none.  _ Stark has done his research far too good.  _ Eddie grumbled at no one in particular. He lets out a heavy sigh, thoughts going back to the water-experiment and how terrified he had been. The fire-experiments had been awful enough, he could still feel the flames burning off his skin, as the scientist kept going and wound turning form first degree to third degree burns.  _ But DROWNING him!!! Who the hell does SHIELD think they are!  _

Eddie shuddered were he sat, his whole body was freezing and felt numb. He still felt the water that filled his lungs, instead of the air he needed. He remembered the way Venom had worked to tune the water out and the moment even Venom couldn’t keep up. He shivered again, Venom now stilled and stopped his yelling and formed outside of Eddie’s body.  _ Venom is to small and thin. Why don’t they listen? Why do they keep hurting us?  _  Eddie thinks, feeling as if he wasn’t fully there, the room around him just a haze.  __

_ This is all one big nightmare... Right? Ha, soon I’m just going to wake up and give Anne a call, just listening to her babble about Dan. And then I will go to work, probably getting scolded by Marc for turning up late, it will be a boring day and when I get home, I will order a big Chinese take-out and  _ _ tatertots _ _  at the side for V.  _ Eddie ’s  mind is already showing him images of Anne walking around in her apartment, phone clenched between her ear and shoulder, while Dan is tying his tie and looking at Anne, reminding her of the appointment they have. Then his Mindseye shows him the way Marc’s face grows more and more red while he yells at Eddie and calming as soon as Eddie gives him a cup of  frappuccino  that Eddie got at the closest Starbucks. Smirking and whispering a quiet joke at Marc for drinking coffee with milk, which earns him a nice blush from Marc and a shove. His thoughts then turn towards him and Venom racing on their bike through New York City and towards their apartment.  When Eddie would have finished his share of the food, he would have a nice chat with Peter and ask the kid about his day.  The heavenly smell of the take-out  was  filling the room and Eddie  sits down to  watch tv while Venom devours the rest of the take-out. 

When his mind turns towards food, Eddie stomach starts cramping painfully, making Eddie let out a heavy rumbling groan, curling in on himself and arms wrapping around his stomach. Venom then purred, trying to assure Eddie he was save and wrapping around his arms and middle, warming Eddie a little. Eddie smiled down at Venom, letting out a quiet laugh and petting V’s head, which earned him a deeper purr.  “ Are you alright V? ”  Eddie asked Venom, one hand on Venoms head, while he rubbed in his eyes with the other. His thoughts now turned towards Venom, who was getting smaller and smaller, most likely due to the not human-meat they were eating. They needed some good meat or else... Eddie sighed again, looking at Venom who was now showing just a little bit of his tongue, very similar to the  blep -face of cats on the internet. Eddie let out another soft chuckle, rubbing in his eyes again and resting his back against the wall, shuffling a little until he found a good spot, petting Venoms head and thinking about how Venom had stopped speaking to him after the electric-experiments.  _ Venom probably doesn’t have very long anymore... WE don’t have long anymore... So, this was it... huh... _

Eddie let out a harsh laughter, startling Venom and after assuring him Eddie leaned back against the wall once more. Mind going blissfully blank.

Until....

BANG!

One of the air vents on the other side of the glass wall that covered half of his cell lost its hinges and fell to the ground with a hell of a noise. 

_ What the hell?  _  Eddie thinks and stands up, carrying Venom in one hand as the other rest upon the glass-wall of his cell. Eyes focused upon the air vent and face quickly turning into a smile as he sees Peters smiling face staring at him.  “ Peter! ”  Eddie yells and immediately quiets down again, eyes flying through his cell and the hidden camera’s that are there undoubtfully and quickly puts his finger on his lips. The kid nods hard and then proceeds to climb down the wall.  _ Kid really sticks like a spider.  _ Eddie thinks and feels Venom’s agreement flow through their bond, resulting in another chuckle from Eddie. 

As soon as Peter stands in front of the glass, he starts looking for a way to break it, or hacking the passcode form the door that leads towards Eddie’s cell.   “ Hi Eddie! Long time no  see ! How you’re doing? ”  Peter yell-whispers at them while he looks for a way to get Eddie out of his cell. Peter keeps going on and on, about the fight, him talking to Stark, him talking to Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America but Eddie probably knew that since Eddie is a reporter. Oh, and he got an A++ on his science project that he had done with Ned. And  “ I really loved your report on the science - fair! The whole class kept asking me about you, you know! Had to tell them you were my uncle, they wouldn’t stop asking me otherwise. I hope you don’t mind? ”  And on and on the kid went.

Kid didn't even notice Venom, until his shoulders sunk, because the kid had finally realized that there was no way that he could get Eddie out on his own. 

Peter let’s out a sob and slinks to the ground, Eddie on the other side of the glass follows him and then they are sitting on the ground, only a wall of glass separating them.  “ I’m sorry Eddie.... ”  Peter starts, hunching in on himself and his knees drawn towards his chest, his arms are slung over his knees and Eddie almost doesn’t hear the next part, because the kid is hiding his face inside his arms.  “ I …  … sure that .... …. …  I could get you ... That I could …. rescue you …. …. I’m sorry. ”  Are the little bits and pieces that Eddie is able the catch and a sad smile forms on his  face.  Peter look s  up at him and straight into tired eyes. 

Eddie then smiles a little harder,  “ Thanks for coming kid. ”  Eddie says earnestly, a soft smile on his face and nodding to Peter, who was now looking up, tears streaming down his face and sniffing his nose, hard.  Eddie wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away, they shouldn’t be there on a face that young. 

Eddie then shuffled were he sat,  “ You know kid... You really shouldn’t have come... What if Stark finds out?! And.... I'm the one that should apologize don’t you think? ”  Eddie tried with a smile, feeling very unsure, wondering if the kid hated him.  _ Surely not right... Otherwise he wouldn’t have come here _ . Insecure thoughts sta r t ed  to swirl in his mind , but  Venom brings him back to the ground, by squeezing his wrist. Eddie looks down at Venom, who lets out a soft growl and back to Peter who is now staring at Venom. 

“ Is that? Is that that big black monster?! ”  Peter shouts, not able to hide his excitement, pointing a finger at Venom and another explosion of words starts.

“ Why is it so small now!? ”

“ Why is it purring? ”

“ Can it turn into other forms to? ”

“ How strong is his shield!? You were able to withstand a very big explosion when you saved me?! ”

And then at last....

“ Why did it hurt me that night .....? ”

The last question is asked with a nervous face, voice wavering and breaking on the last word. Eddie looked at the kid that was sitting cross-legged in front of him.  _ Kid’s probably cold, he keeps rubbing his arms and shoulders... should make him go home.  _ Eddie blinks and then looks down towards the ground, his hands find a loose wire at the end of his shirt to play with.  _ Not his shirt of course... Stark and Banner never gave back his clothes... stupid hospital-shirt.  _ Eddie moves his shoulders, the shirt irritating his skin and pointedly not looking at the kid , unsure of what to say . Then Venom moves and slithers up towards the glass, his little snake like head bumps against it and Peter not even realizing what he is doing,  moves his hands towards him,  until his hand bumps against the glass . Peter  reaches out, trying to touch Venom. 

“ I’m sorry Peter... For that night... I should never have left you after I hurt you. ”  Eddie chokes on the words, tears forming in his eyes and threating to fall. Venom looks at the both of them and then back to Peter. 

** “ ** ** Venom is  ** ** sorry ** **  too. ** ** ” **  Venom rumbles, looking ashamed of himself.  ** “ ** ** But Eddie was hurt... and we needed to eat to save him. ** ** ” **  Venom tried to explain, Eddie’s eyes fly from Peter and back to Venom.  “ ** And then you hurt us... and we needed more food the heal Eddie’s wounds. ** ** ” **  Peter who had been inching closer and closer, stills completely at hearing Venom’s last words.

“ So, you need to eat, to heal wounds? ”  Peter breaths, fully enthralled by Venom’s little tongue that is now lolling out of his mouth, mindful of the sharp teeth. 

“ ** More specific. Human meat, or brains. ** ** ” **  Venom answers the boy’s question and turn towards Eddie saying,  “ ** But Eddie doesn’t really like that ** . ”  Venom mumbles the last part, quickly looking away when Eddie turns back to look at him, he huffs and pets Venom on the head, turning back to look at Peter. 

“ So, you attacked me, because I was interrupting your meal... I wounded you so you needed more meat... Uhm human-meat to heal Eddie’s wounds which I caused? ”  Peter speaks slowly, looking at Venom to see if he understood it alright. Venom nods hard when Peter is finished but Eddie interrupts. 

“No!  No nothing is alright about that! We should never have to hurt you Peter! I am so sorry! And I should  never h ad run away in the first place Peter. I  should have stayed, called someone, your aunt, Stark?! I don’t know but I shouldn’t have left you there.” Eddie finishes his apology and looks down at his hands, feeling Peter’s eyes bore into him. 

“ It’s okay Eddie. ”  Eddie’s head flies up, his eyes wide, staring at  Peter,  mouth hanging open. Venom to looks stunned, not sure whether to believe the  Spiderkid  or not. 

“ Really! ”  Peter says again,  “ We are friends right, Eddie? And, well what happened, happened and there is nothing we can do about that anymore. And well... you have saved me when I was trapped so... We are even, I hurt you and you hurt me. ”  Peter looks back up at them, a soft smile on his face, that make s  the skin around his eyes wrinkle. 

Eddie can’t he lp but smile back at the kid.  “ Peter I... ”  Eddie starts but closes his mouth again and only shakes his head, letting out a soft chuckle. 

“You know Eddie, I’m going to get you AND VENOM out. I will talk to mister Stark again! And then we can explain to mister Stark why you two did what you did! Venom is an alien after all, human laws just... well they can’t really ap p ly to  him  can they? And we have Thor and the Hulk, why not Venom to!” Peter says determined, his eyes shine, his mouth a thin line and his mind set on getting Eddie out of that little white, cramped cell. “You will see Eddie, Venom, you both just have to hang in there!”

Peter lifts his hand up and puts it on the glass in front of him. Eddie is looking at him, hearing the firm words and nods and without realizing lifts his hand up and places it on the glass, right over Peters hand. Venom is also watching the two humans, his little head moves from side to side, his host and his friend? Lover?  ** FAMILY. **  Venom decides, while still not fully understanding the relationship between the humans he has come to like. But he feels the warmth between them and lets out a loud purr, he slithers up Eddie’s arm and covers Eddie’s hand on the glass with his black slime. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to overwork the last few weeks, but this week was okay! :)
> 
> Hope you all like the chapter, let me know if there are things unclear!


	18. No way around it, I was born to fall behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys!
> 
> So it took a little longer to update this chapter then I thougth :P
> 
> I really wanna thank you all for your amazing comments and apoligize for not replying to any of them... I just didn't know what to say you know... 
> 
> Sometimes I just feel like I'm writting shit you know....
> 
> But! I hope this chapter explains some of your questions!
> 
> Not beta-ed yet! So there may be a lot of mistakes!  
> Oh! My beta is also writting his own story! So if you guys wanna read another Venom comic, check out his! --> https://archiveofourown.org/series/1290674
> 
> He has written a lot and I will be honest, I have not yet read everything myself...
> 
> SO I hope you guy's enjoy!

**SHIELD headquarters**

* * *

 

 ****“So, as you all can see... the symbiote is consuming the host’s body. We have not yet found out the reason why but...” Bruce trailed of, eyes wandering around the room not wanting to look at the people who were looking back, waving his hand at the large screen that showed the results of the previous scan’s they made on Brock. Bruce then looked back up and towards Fury, the only real person in the room, who was sitting in a large black chair, next to several computer monitors that showed black silhouettes of the people in charge of SHIELD. The Avengers had been placed under the supervision of this United Nation panel, when the Sokovia Accords were made.

Bruce had hoped that Fury would be the one in charge, but even he had people monitoring his every movements, thanks to that stupid big fight between Tony and Rogers, Bruce grumbled, working himself into an even more depressing mood. He let out a deep sigh, turning back towards his superiors and went on, “Even though we have not yet found the reason why, Tony found out a weakness of the symbiote, during our scans the creature showed a large disturbance towards high frequency sounds. Tony is currently working on a weapon which can subdue the alien.” 

Bruce finished his report and looked at Fury, who nodded silently and then stood up. “As you all can see, Mister Banner and Mister Stark have done and are doing the very best they can at the moment. It would be best to let Stark finish his weapon, once that is done, I think that it would be wise to drop the threats you have made against Stark and Banner and his friends.” Fury growled the last bit, not even he was enjoying the threats and doings of these people, but he was under orders and these people were chosen by the president and he had no say in the matter, case closed.  

One of the people on the darkened screens starts speaking, their voice deformed and image hidden to hide their identity. But even all that couldn’t hide the fact that the speaker was a woman, with a foreign accent, thanks due to movements with which she spoke. “How far along is Mister Stark with his weapon?”  

 _OF COURSE! That was the first thing they would start asking about_. Banner bristled thought, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his frown clear on his face. Fury to didn’t look pleased at all, by the way he clenched his fists, hidden behind his back.  

“Stark is almost finished with his weapon, thought if it works, we do not know yet. We have decided to let Mister Brock rest for a few days, now that we have went through with all of your requested tests.” Fury let the last word draw on, emphasizing the meaning behind it, these were not simple tests, they couldn’t even call this experimenting anymore, it was pure torture, he thought as he clenched his jaw. 

Bruce went to stand beside him and looked at the screens, “I am not a medical doctor, but even I can see that whatever the alien is doing to Brock is harmful to both human and symbiote. Rest is for now the best option to us.”  

“You would think that even with one of those aliens up his ass! That the man could handle a simple imprisonment! Pathetic!” Another head spoke, a man this time and Banner felt the big guy stir as he heard the laughs erupting for the man.  

“Brock is hardly pathetic! I think the man has taken all of this torture very well!” Bruce almost shouted, speaking Fury’s thoughts out loud. But none of the heads were listening, the ladies whispering among each other, while the men were laughing out loud and yelling at each other about what to do now, the last one was sipping of his drink, remaining quiet. 

Bruce felt his desperation grow, these people had threatened his friends, Tony and him, made the both of them do terrible things to another human being and now they were just gossiping about it? Bruce let out a heavy sigh, loosing hope as his shoulder slumped down. Brining his hand up to rub at his face and pinch his nose as he let took another deep breath, turning towards Fury, who was looking at him. 

Fury grumbled something under his breath as he turned back towards his superiors. “I think it is in your best opinion that I remind all of you, that Mister Brock is first and foremost human. And that whatever you have said to Stark and Banner, that it is not in your best interests to anger the rest of the Avengers with vague schemes.” Fury let a pause fall as he looked at each of the people on the screens one for one.  

“I will keep you all updated personally, for further events.” Was the last words Fury said, before he was violently interrupted by Stark who slammed the door open and came running into the room, followed by a few scientists who were ordered, by the very same people they were now watching on screen, to “help” them by the experiments. Bruce snorted in his head.  _Yeah more like watch their every move and make sure that they were following the heads orders._  

“Stark!” Fury yelled annoyed at Tony who came bursting into the room, fully out of breath. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” Fury asked him, one of his eyebrows raised threatening, his arms crossed as his righthand pointing finger, tapped his left arm in frustration.  

“I just wanted to tell you all that I have finished the device, and it works so now you assholes can leave us the hell alone!” Tony yelled the last bit, his face flushed with anger and still panting from his jog through the building. The scientist that had followed him into the room, now displayed a strange device on the trolley they had brought with them. The weapon looked like a kind of shot gun, its sides gave of a soft blue glow and on the backside sat a special digital display to help the user aim.  

“I am terribly sorry mister Stark, but how do we know that the weapon indeed works.” The silhouette of the man who had been quiet this whole time now spoke. His voice deformed but it still held a cold tone. “Where is the evidence of this weapons of yours, working?” The man finished his question, his black form moving on the screen, showing them the elegant way in which the man set down his glass, crossed his legs and bent closer to the screen, his fingertips pressed together in front of his chin. 

Tony gritted his teeth as he turned around and walked towards the computer Bruce had used to show the results of their experiments. “Here is your evidence!” Tony growled as he started to hammer on the buttons of the computer, turning up a movie clip and pressed play. 

The image showed Brock tied up, his arms up and tied directly to the wall, as were the rest of his body and his legs, Brock could only move his head freely. The Brock on screen was spitting out cursus and yelled at the scientist that were moving around him. “At the moment, Brock here as you all can see, is still sedated.” 

“He doesn’t look sedated to me.” Interrupted one of the women on screen, her voice an awful high-pitched sound thanks to the deforming.  

“Believe me he is.” Tony grumbled, annoyed of the woman so kindly interrupting his speech. He wanted this to be over with. The sooner the better, both Bruce and he could leave this damn building and return to their own quarters, back to their friend, their family. “You may not hear it very clear, but Brock is slurring his words, thanks to the tranquilizers Bruce designed, which keep the symbiote under control. Now we start testing the weapon.” Tony said quietly, his eyes fixed on the image of Brock, his stomach upset of what he knew was coming. 

One of the scientists on the screen placed the weapon in a mold to keep it steady in its place. Tony then appeared on screen and stood behind the weapon, training it on Brock who was now struggling to escape his bonds, his voice raising in panic. The heads of SHIELD now to were all paying attention, some of them moving closer to the screen while others sat further back in their chairs. “Test one, time 13:22 PM, subject is still sedated, we will be starting with short boosts of high frequency sounds and will build it up to holding it steady for 5 full minutes and see how the symbiote reacts.” The voice of the Tony on screen sounded off, but to Bruce it was very clear to hear that Tony was doing his best to keep his voice steady. He quickly looked at the Tony next to him, noticing the dark bags under his friends' eyes, his pale skin and slouched stand.  

 _It’s time to end these tests, before they ruin all of us. The others have already questioned our disappearances and absence. Tony and I need to finish this and fast..._  Bruce mind wandered and was pulled back abruptly when the Brock on the screen started screaming. Tony next to him spoke up, “From here on we expose the symbiote longer and longer to the high frequency sounds and when we reached up to 4 and a half minute this happened.” The Brock on screen was now howling, his voice sounding inhuman and body violently spasming in his bonds, black slime was appearing through his skin and dripping to the ground. Then as the timer on the screen hit the full 5 minutes the black goo jumped through the room and there were screams heard from the scientists who were standing to close to Brock. The Tony on the screen shut off the weapon and backed away from Brock and the black slime that now was returning to Brock. 

“What you all have just witnessed, ladies and gentlemen,” Tony snarked and scoffed while he turned back towards the people on screen, “is the separation of symbiote and his host.” Tony finished his report and turned around gracefully and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. 

Chaos erupts on the screen and Bruce is ordered out immediately, while Fury tries to calm the people down. Bruce stands outside in the now quiet hallway, turning to head back to his room, his mind is still reeling from the discovery Tony made.  _You can separate them!? The sym_ _b_ _iote was forced to leave his host and seek a better shelter, away from the sound._ _Now the heads know that the symbiote can be removed... Oh no! They will order us to remove the symbiote from Brock and who knows what they will want with it! Tony... what have we done...._  

 

 

 

**Bruce Banner sleeping quarters**

* * *

 

“Ugghhhh....” Bruce let’s out a stressed sigh and slumps over his desk, his eyes trained on the camera image of Brock in his cell. Brock is currently laying on his side, his breathing regular as his eyes are closed, off in a deep sleep. “Well that can’t be helped, seeing as all of his organs are now failing and we still haven’t found a way to help him...” Bruce muttered, head now rested in his hands as he starts at the screen, and then he is staring harder. “What is?” Bruce doesn’t even finish his sentence as he touches the holo-screen in front of him and starts zooming in on the other side of Brocks’ cell, to be specific on the glass wand, separating Eddie from the viewing-room.  

As Bruce zoomed in even closer, he pushed a view buttons that made his view clear,  _was that really? No, he wasn’t imagining it! It really was! On the other side of the glass wall sat a handprint clear as day! How did it get there?!_ Bruce mind started racing, when was the last time they had seen Brock, who had been there with them?  _Tony and he hadn’t touched the glass, he was sure of that! One of the scientists? No, they were far too afraid to approach Brock. Someone must have snuck in!_  

Bruce’s hands fly over the touchscreen as he tries to rewind the camera images. He sees in a flurry of images how Brock is brought back to his cell and the moment the scientists approach Brock to sedate him and take him out to test Tony’s weapon on him. Then Brock is in his cell alone through the whole night, Bruce almost misses it, out of reflects he stops the image.  

 _PETER_! 

 _Oh no..._  Bruce thinks, a single sweat drop slides down the side of his face, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. While he stares concerned at the screen, finding the time frame in the security clip the moment Peter breaks into the room. He fiddles with a few sound buttons and the Peter’s voice sounds through the speakers. 

 _“Hi Eddie! Long time no_ _see_ _! How you’re doing?”_  

Bruce has to touch a few buttons on the holo-screen to adjust the sound quality to hear Peter clearer as the kid starts rattling about the fight between the Avengers and the robot and how Peter had tried to pursue Tony into letting Brock go. Brock looked touched at that and when Peter talked about speaking with Captain America over Brock’s wellbeing the man’s face softened completely Bruce watched as Peter talked and ran around the room searching for a way to get Brock out of his cell, probably. Bruce knew it was a hopeless effort, Tony and he had designed the room so that only Tony or he had access to Brock, including a few more trusted scientists. Then Bruce spotted the black goo that was the symbiote, appear from Eddie’s shoulder, as Peter kept talking and didn’t notice it himself.  

Bruce grimaced when in the end Peter sank down on the ground and started crying. The kid had finally given up and Brock sat down, close, on the other side of the glass. Bruce turned the volume up a little to hear Peter better.  

 _“I’m sorry Eddie....”_  

Both Brock and Bruce winced at the lost tone in Peter’s voice and watched on with a sad expression as Peter hunched in on himself.  _Kid probably thought that he could free Brock himself..._ Bruce thought as he watched Brock move as close as he could with the glass separating the two.  

 _“_ _Thanks_ _for_ _coming kid.”_  

Brock had thanked the kid, well Brock hadn’t seen a friendly face in a while and Bruce knew he couldn’t count Tony or himself as a friendly face, with all the tests they had been doing on him.  _If only they could stop testing on him... those heads of SHIELD would never let Brock go, now that they knew what he and the symbiote could do... but... at least they could stop testing on him... that would make Brocks live at least a little easier to bear..._  

Bruce was shaken out of his musings when Brock started apologizing and he remembered clearly again what Peter had told them at the meeting, when the symbiote had murdered some gang and left tracks all over the place. And then Peter to notices the symbiote who was growling at Brock? And watching Peter from over Brock’s shoulder. Bruce could see Peter growing excited, pointing rapidly at the symbiote. 

 _“Is that? Is that that big black monster?!”_  

Peter’s voice exploded from the speakers and Bruce hastily turns the volume down a notch.  _The whole time the kid’s whispering but when they see an alien!_ Bruce grumbles and turns back towards the screen as Peter starts his interrogation on Brock, asking all sorts of questions but the most important one he saves for last.  

 _“_ _Why did it hurt me that night.....?”_  

Bruce can see that now both men look nervous, Peter is a little pale in the face, probably rethinking about what the symbiote had done to him that night. Brock looks even paler, his hands trembling in his lap and head down, probably feeling quilted for what he had done.  _And dammit he should be! He had left Peter alone there!_ Bruce mulled, quickly looking back up as he saw the symbiote move towards the glass. Then Brock was speaking again, apologizing again while crying and then the symbiote spoke 

 **_“Venom is sorry too.”_ ** 

 _Venom... so the symbiote has a name? An own personality?_ _As_ _in it’s_ _a sentient being?!_ Bruce thought surprised, sitting back up while his face almost touched the screen. He listened to the symbiote,  _no Venom_ , as it explained why it did what it did. The symbiote requires food to cure Brock, Bruce mussed together while Peter spoke his thoughts out loud. His face quickly turning into a frown when the symbiote agreed but explained that it required more specific parts of meat.  _Brains! Dear God! Why?!_ Bruce cringed and let out another heavy sigh. 

The symbiote immediately told Peter that Brock didn’t like it, but that it needed that part to survive. Peter nodded and reasoned with Venom as Brock suddenly interrupted  

 _“_ _No! No nothing is alright about that!_ _”_  

Brock sounded a little hysteric as he yelled and apologized again.  _Well at least Brock has a little bit of common sense..._  Bruce thought sadly.  _But if the symbiote needs it... What would I have done if the big guy needed that?_ Again, Bruce was pulled out of his thoughts as Peter replied.  

 _“It’s okay Eddie.”_  

 _Kid got too big of a hart, Tony is right about that._  Bruce smiled while watching Brock taken over completely by surprise, even the symbiote, Venom looked surprised, Bruce watched while snorting.  

And then the kid stood up, proclaiming that he was going to convince Tony about letting Brock and Venom go. Bruce sighed while slumping into his chair. That would never work, maybe the kid could convince Tony, but he sure as hell couldn’t convince the heads of SHIELD. And then the kid put his hand against the glass, the only thing that had alerted Bruce that someone had been in the cell with Brock. And the Brock put his hand up to and after a while the symbiote covered it. 

Bruce gave a sigh as he stood up.  _Well it looks like I have to pay Brock a late-night visit too._  

 

 

**Cells**

* * *

 

Eddie wakes up from the sounds of doors opening and then the soft sounds of someone walking towards his cell. He tries to remain still, let whoever it was, think they are sleeping. Eddie really can’t take another hit today. Thinking back to when Stark had sedated and dragged him out of his cell and tied him up against the wall.  

The moment Stark had done that Eddie felt his panic raise and the hairs on his neck stood up when Stark trained some gun like device on him. Eddie hadn’t been able to identify what kind of gun it was, but couldn’t noting the soft blue-glow it emitted.  _Probably some home-made thing from Stark himself_ , he had snarked to Venom, who had responded sluggish thanks to those stupid tranquilizers! 

Eddie then had started cursing Stark and his little helpers, far too nervous to remain quiet, struggling in his bonds trying to break free. And then Stark had turned on the device and at first, they just felt these tiny little sparks, like accidently stinging yourself because of static, but then Stark had turned up the device and kept going, longer and longer.  

In the end it had hurt so much, that Venom and he were forced to separate. Eddie could hear Venom’s howls and, in the end, he hadn’t known who was screaming harder. The only thing he did know, when he woke up again, was that Stark had disappeared and the scientists were bringing him back towards his cell. His whole body is still stinging from the weapon Stark had created, Eddie shivers at the thought. 

“Wake up Brock, I know you are awake.”  

A loud but kind voice spoke out loud. Eddie immediately recognizes it as Banner’s voice, spending day in, day out with the both of them Eddie had taken too Banner more than he had liked Stark. Eddie turns around slowly, feeling Venom moving around somewhere as he grew more nervous with the second. 

“Brock... Eddie. I know you are awake. My tablet shows your vitals and everything.” 

Eddie doesn’t turn towards Banner, growling under his breath.  

“Didn’t know we were on first name basis.” Eddie replays sarcastic, hearing Venom cackle with joy in his mind.  

Bruce looks up from his tablet, annoyed and says, “I know of Peter’s visit.”  

At that Eddie turns around quickly, the fear on his face clear for everyone to see. He stands up too fast, almost falling over hadn’t it been for Venom as he runs towards the glass wall, Eddie almost slams right into it. “Don’t tell anyone!” he shouts at Banner, panting, his eyes flying through the room, trying to find Stark anywhere, but not seeing him.  _Had he not come with Banner this time?_  

Banner sighs, “I won’t Eddie, but I need to understand.” pacing in front of him and then looking back up. “I heard what you and your symbiote, Venom, told Peter.” Banner says, now looking at something over Eddie’s shoulder.  

Eddie turns his head and sees Venom perching over his shoulder, “V?” Eddie whispers at Venom, unsure why Venom would show himself so easily too Banner.  

 **“We are dying. Eddie is dying.”**   

Both men in the room stood completely still, no one dared to breath. Then Banner breaths out, long and slow, “You need meat. Brains?” 

 **“** **Yessss** **. That’s where you humans harbor phenylethylamine, which we need to exist.”** Venom explains to Banner, while Eddie remains quiet, but speaks up as soon as Venom is finished.  

“Besides, I only make so much money. I can’t keep buying V chocolate. We only eat the brains of bad people! Please Banner believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt Peter! I never wanted to... to... kill people!” Eddie rambles and pleads, but soon realizes the hurt on Venom’s face as he is done. “I’m sorry V I...” Eddie sighs giving up on his attempt to make any sense, trying to appease Venom by scratching his little head, “You know what I mean, V.” hearing Venom let out a quiet purr to let Venom know that it’s all right.  

Banner looks between the two of them, Eddie can’t read his face, but it is clear that Banner is thinking hard. Then the man looks up at him and says, “I will talk to Fury.” Banner says absolute, looking back up at Eddie. “I will try to safe you Eddie.” Then with a quick look at Venom, “And you of course, Venom?” The last bit sounds a bit unsure. Venom looks at the man in front of him and smiles, showing of his blinking row of razor-sharp teeth. Banner pales and takes a step back as Eddie whacks the symbiote on the head. 

“Don’t scare him V!” Eddie snorts at the symbiote, “He is trying to help!” then he turns back to Banner and says, “Please Banner, if you could? It doesn’t have to be brains! It also could be chocolate? Uhmmm...” Eddie trails of again, not sure where they were standing.  

“Please call me Bruce..., may I call you Eddie?”  

Eddie’s head snaps up to meet Bruce’s eyes.  

“Yes...” He whispers softly and a small smile appears on his face, Eddie feels himself relaxing a bit, after weeks of intense stress and pain. Knowing that Banner, Bruce! Was now on their side.  _Maybe he can get us out?_ Eddie thinks quietly, getting lost in happier thoughts. Thoughts of meeting Anne and Dan again, of seeing Peter smile and working on a case with Marc.  

He snaps out of his thoughts thanks to Venom, looks back up at Bruce, who was still staring at him, a sad smile on his face. “Don’t worry Eddie, if it was me, or even Tony, you would be out of here within seconds.” 

“But then... why not now?” Eddie whispers as Venom waves himself around his neck like a shawl. 

“Because the heads of SHIELD won’t allow it, Eddie, and they are our superiors, thanks to the Sokovia Accords.” Bruce admits, looking a little ashamed of the fact.  

“So... you guys aren’t free to do as you please?” Eddie states, for himself, feeling a little better knowing now that Bruce and Stark weren’t doing this willingly.  

Eddie looks at Bruce and the other man looks back, “I will be back Eddie, I need to go now before anyone questions where I am.” Bruce mumbles, clearly not wanting to leave, but in the end, he turns back around and walks towards the door. 

“Thank you, Bruce.” Eddie says quietly, Venom is rubbing at the underside of his chin, trying to comfort Eddie as their hope to get out of here, walks away. Eddie feels even worse than when Peter had left, he had known the moment the kid had come in that he wouldn’t be able to get them out.  **_But Bruce could_ **! Or so they had thought.  

Eddie sighs as Banner leaves, for one last time looking over his shoulder, back at the man in the cell as he left the room. 

Eddie turns back around as well, walking towards his berth and dumps himself down upon it, curling up until both he and Venom lay comfortable. “He’s going to get us out of here V, I just know it.” Eddie speaks out loud, more trying to reassure himself than Venom.  

Venom watches down upon his host and then covers him like a blanket, trying to keep his host warm.  **“** **Yesss** **, Eddie, he will.”**  Venom replies back, but deep down, both of them knew that the changes are too small. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the chapter title may be a little confusing. Mostly I choose it because it is how I felt at the time I wrote this chapter, but I think that everyone feels like this sometimes and seeing as Eddie has no way out maybe he to would agree with this lyrics text?
> 
> So I have noted a few things down and thought it would be cool to do a Fury POV?
> 
> Let me know what you guy's think about that!


	19. Darkest before dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK!!!!!!!
> 
> And for the hardcore fans, or the people who are really good at noticing things, I updated two chapters! None are beta read so any fault is mine!
> 
> Which makes this the end of part 1 of this series!  
> YES I'm gonna make this into a series! 
> 
> As you all know this part takes place before Infinity War, part 2 will take place in and after Infinity war and if it all works out, part 3 will take place in and after Endgame!
> 
> So it took me a while to write this and the next chapter. When I finished chapter 19 and started working on chapter 20 I had to rewrite some parts to make the story fit...
> 
> I wanna thank everyone for their comments and messages and enjoy!

**Fury’s offic** **e**  

* * *

 

 

With a big bang the door towards Fury’s office slams open. 

“I know how to cure Brock!” Banner yells, while he makes his way into his office. 

Fury looks at Banner, trying with all his might to keep his face even though he has a hard time to keep the annoyance of his face. “And?” 

“Brains.” Bruce answers, a deadpanned look on his face. 

Fury says nothing, he is too busy staring at Banners face to read if the man is lying. 

Finding none Fury answers, “Why is it always so complicated with those alien bastards. Why can’t it just be grass or what the hell, cheese?” Fury let’s out a deep sigh and scrubs his face, closing his eyes, just wanting to stop staring at his computer screen for five seconds. 

“Well..?” 

Fury looks up at Banner, who is scuffling across from him, eyes on his shoes as if those hold the answers to the universe. Hands shoved into his pockets to keep them from rubbing them against each other. Only to look back up at Fury and down immediately to his shoes again. 

“Well what?” Fury snaps, making a grab for his coffee cup, but realizing that he had finished the whole thing hours ago and drops his arm back on the desk, which is covered with disregarded papers and unfinished work. Some of the documents hold coffee stains and others are completely wrinkled or crumbled into a ball. 

“Will you get me the brains?” Banner almost whispers, looking up at Fury with those dark brown puppy eyes of his. 

“Uggggh!” 

 

 

**SHIELD office center**

* * *

 

 

“After watching mister Starks full test clip, the symbiote has amazed me even more!” 

The woman's voice on screen reaches a far too high soprano tone and makes Fury’s ears feel like they are bleeding. 

“I know! It is astonishing what the symbiote can do! Think about all those healing factors!” The other woman jumps in, the awe clear in her deformed voice.  

“Well now that Doctor Banner has figured out that the symbiote needs the matter called phenylethylamine, to keep himself and his host alive. This matter can be found in two things: chocolate and the human brain.” Fury ends his sentence, keeping a clear eye on the reactions of the SHIELD members that, after the Sokovian accords, now hold control over him and his team.  

 

 _Damn them all to hell._ _How did Banner even convince me to do this? Oh yeah, he showed me the records of the_ _Spiderkid_ _talking to the damned symbiote!_  

 

The members don’t seem shocked at all, in fact, the quiet one of the three man starts speaking. 

“That will be no problem.” The man answers, snapping his fingers towards someone off screen. “Expect a delivery by the end of today.”  

Fury remains still, trying not to stare at the man, who he calls his superior.  

 

 _Great...._  

 

Fury turns back towards Banner who is standing next to him, nervously fidgeting, tremors of anxiety moving through his body and fear shining in his eyes. 

“By the end of today doctor Banner.” Fury repeats after the man on screen, as he sees Banner deflate a little, now that he gets the thing, he needs to fix Brock.  

 

 _BRAINS_! 

 

Fury shakes his head, holding in a growl and takes a deep breath, trying to pick up where he left off with his speech, wanting this to be over quick! 

 

“And where is Mister Stark today?” One of the men on screen asks, it’s one of the more talkative men of the group. His voice is an annoying tenor and not even the dark silhouette can hide that the man is an obvious case of obesities.  

 

“Well-” Fury starts but is interrupted as the door is slammed open. 

 

“Present!” Stark yells through the room, grabs a chair and throws himself into it. 

 

“Mister Stark.” The women with the annoying pitched voice, on the screen says, she readjusts her hair and settles differently into her chair, making her chest stick out, even more than it already did. One of the other men on screen rubs his hands clearly happy at the change and the other woman scoffs.  

 

“And do tell me Mister Stark, why were you not present for the start of this meeting.” The annoyed woman asks, tapping her finger on the desk in front of her.  

 

“Because.” Stark says and the sarcasm is dripping from his voice, staring straight into the camera. 

 

The woman on the screen lets out an almost feral growl and her nails scrape over the desk as she clenches her fists.  

 

 _It is obvious that this woman does not like Stark, like at all..._  Fury thinks and tries to get the SHIELD head members attentions back.  

 

“Now since Mister Stark and Doctor Banner have completed their tasks, I ask to hereby release them off their duty and take back your treats towards the other members of SHIELD. Now that we are done with the symbiote I suggest to locking them up in the RAFT.” Fury says, his thoughts going back to the underwater prison, it would be the perfect place for Brock and his alien. 

 

“I, for once, fully agree with Fury here.” Stark starts, standing up from his chair and walks towards the front of the room, angerly pointing his finger towards the people on the screen. “I’m sick of being your puppet. I agreed with the Sokovia accords because, yes, we, no I fucked up. But this goes too far.” Stark growls the last part, his hands now clenched into fists and almost spitting the words towards the SHIELD head members. 

 

Banner and Fury both look at the man and Fury sees that Stark is indeed through with it. The man has dark bags under his eyes and his hair is greasy and unkept, which tells him a lot about wellbeing of the billionaire, playboy genius. Stark sits back down on his chair and drags a hand through his messy hair. 

 

 _Banner looks at Stark with those sad puppy eyes of his and a face full of pity, it only annoys Stark even more but it looks like the good Doctor can’t help it. Banner has always had too much of a hart. Reminds me of more than one person...._  

 

“No.” 

 

The quiet voice, snaps everyone back to attention.  

 

From behind the man, who had just so kindly agreed with them to deliver brains, a woman steps into view. She walks up to the man in the chair and rests her hands on the back of it, just above the man’s shoulders. 

 

“And you are?!” Stark snaps at her, standing up harshly, almost toppling his chair over, breathing heavy and clenching his fists. 

 

“I believe that that doesn’t matter at the moment, Mister Stark. What matters is that you and Doctor Banner are not done, just yet.” The woman answers back, just as quietly as she had first spoken up., almost like the deformer can’t quiet catch it.  

 

“You-” Stark starts but is cut off immediately.  

 

“You see, there is one thing that you have not tested yet.” The woman starts, her hands slide of the back of the chair and she walks closer towards the screen, folding her hands in front of her.  

 

“One thing that can change the medical world around us if we can get a hold of it, if we can understand it.” 

 

It looks like the words of the woman had sparked Banner’s interest, because the good Doctor takes a step forward. 

 

“What is it that you are talking about? How can the symbiote help the medical world?” Banner asks the woman, nervous but curiosity clear on his face. 

 

 _Ah Banner, always wanting to help_ _others_ _._ Fury thinks, holding in a sarcastic snort, knowing that nothing good can come of this. 

 

“What happens to the host when you cut of his limbs?” The woman asks, innocently, as if what she just asked does not violate any human rights law.  

 

“What...?” Banner stammers and Stark straightens up violently. 

 

“NO!” Starks screams, almost stomping his feet like an angry toddler. 

 

“On the contrary. I think that we all have established that the symbiote can replace damaged or lost organs. But what of other body parts? Think of the million people we can help; we only have to do one simple task of transferring the symbiote from patient to patient.” The woman says back cold and quiet. 

 

“You can’t ask that of us...” Banner whispers, tears in his eyes and his face pulled into a frown. “No matter how many people we could help with it, what you ask of us is too much.” 

 

Fury is gritting his teeth and his jaw clenches painfully. 

 

 _Mad Bitch!_  

 

“Do I have to remind Mister Stark and Doctor Banner what will happen to them, if they do not obey this lovely women's quest?” The head member with obesity asks gleefully. His eyes are not visible but Fury knows that if he could see them, stars would be twinkling inside the bastard's eyes. 

 

“No...” Banner stammers and Stark slams his jaws upon each other, keeping in hateful words and cursus.  

 

“If you really care about the wellbeing of your friends, I suggest that you start your experiments, Mister Stark, Doctor Banner. I wish you all good night.” The woman finishes and turns around slowly walking out of the screen. The man sitting in the chair says nothing as he too stands up quietly and walks out.  

 

“I assume that General Fury will see to this, so that the experiment will be a success.” The annoyed woman speaks up, venom dripping from her words as she to leaves the screen.  

 

Fury stands up straight, his eyes wander to the two men next to him. Banner is very pale and sweat has erupted over his forehead. Stark looks like he wants to kill someone, probably all of the head members. Furry turns back to the people who are still on screen. 

 

“As you command.” He says, after that all the screens turn black, expect one. It’s the woman with the high-pitched voice, she stands up from her chair and walks towards the screen, so that they can only see her face. 

 

“I am terribly sorry...” She starts, the tone in her voice, even deformed, is clearly nervous. She shakes her head, as if to get rid of something. 

 

“I wish you all good luck.” The woman says at last and then too her screen turns black. 

 

Fury let’s out a deep sigh and rubs his eyes, he starts to speak but stops as he hears Stark growl and sees him turn around and storm out of the room.  

 

“Dramatic asshole...” Fury grumbles under his breath, but there is no hard feeling behind it. Hell, he doesn’t even mean it, he is just as frustrated as Stark is. 

 

Banner turns back to him, hope in his eyes as if Fury can change anything about this. 

 

Fury just looks at him, carefully keeping his face blank as he slowly shakes his head. 

 

Banner shoulders sag and Fury sees the whole man deflate and his eyes go hazy.  

 

“Do as you must do Bruce...” Fury says, walking towards Banner and slapping him on the shoulder. 

 

The slammer man flinches and goes back to staring at the ground. 

 

“The sooner we finish this, the sooner we’re free from these monsters.” Fury sighs, letting go of Banner shoulder and walking out of the room.  

 

 _If only Brock ha_ _d never_ _shown up..._  

 

 

 

**Loading Docks**

* * *

 

“Well that head member sure doesn’t like to disappoint...” Banner stammers as he inspects the goods the quiet one of the SHIELD head members had send them. 

 

“He really sends us brains... And quite a lot of it...” Banner finishes, as he looks up at him. 

 

Fury let’s out another tired sigh.  

 

 _How many times has he sighed again?_  

 

 _I can’t even remember! And now I am sighing for an order of BRAINS! UGH this must be the worst day of my live..._  

 

“Makes you wonder where he got them.” Stark replies sarcastic at Banner, sitting on one of the big boxes and inspecting his nails. 

 

 _Dammit Stark._  

 

Banner looks up at his friend and well partner in crime with a troubled face. 

 

“You don’t think that...” Banner pales and doesn’t finish his sentence, his quiet words fade away slowly. 

 

“That’s exactly what I think.” Stark snarls back and stands up from where he was sitting. 

 

“How do you think someone gets his hands on, what, 150 pounds of brain?! Whoever that asshole is he is powerful.” Stark finishes his rant, thoughts running a mile a minute.  

 

Fury feels another sigh coming up and steels himself, turning towards were Stark is standing. 

 

“Shut is Stark. Let’s get these brains to Brock. You two fix him up and get him ready for the last test. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can drop Brock off at the Raft and well you know how the saying goes-” 

 

“Out of sight, out of mind.” Banner finishes his sentence for him. Fury feels his own frown growing at the judging way Banner looks at him. 

 

“You know, I don’t like this anymore than you two do, but think of the rest of the team.” Fury says calmer, signing his signature on the paper and giving it back to the pilot of the plane. 

 

“It was nice doing business with you!” The man chippers and walks back towards his plane.  

 

All three man look after the man. 

 

“How can someone be so happy after delivering brains?” Stark mutters, eyes big and unconsciously rubbing his sides.  

 

“Hmmm.... let’s get back to work.” Fury says, waving at the team of scientist, who get to work quickly hauling the boxes filled with... well  _BRAINS_! Into the building. 

 

Banner sighs and walks with him, looking back to see if Stark is following.  

 

“Come on Tony, one last test.” Banner says to his friend.  

 

Fury turns around to look at Stark too, the genius silhouette is painted in the sky by the setting sun, as Stark turns towards them. 

 

“One last test.” 

 

**The last test**

* * *

 

Eddie perks up as they hear the doors towards his cell open. What little hope they had, upon seeing the scientists and not Banner, fades away quickly as they shoot them down with one of those damned tranquilizers. 

 

“Uggghhh...” Eddie groans as he feels the sedative kick in immediately. Venom let’s out a dark growl somewhere in his mind but Eddie has already trouble to focus.  

 

With bleary eyes he stares at the scientist who are now grabbing at him and hoisting him up and into a stretcher. They tie his hands and feet against it and once secure, roll him out of the room.  

 

 _Where is Banner?_  

 

 **_Bruce_ ** _!_  

 

 _Do you think they found out he visited us? Would they hurt him?_  

 

 **_No, I don’t think so... they did feed us brains._ ** 

 

“Will any of you tell me what is going on?” Eddie slurs trying to get an answer to his questions, turning his head to the right and left as he tries to get a good look at the scientist that walk next to him. Some of them he recognizes, having seen them once or twice at earlier tests.  

 

 _One of them is new._  

 

Eddie thinks and he knows he is right, because the man keeps glancing at them, curiosity on his face instead of fear or the cold stare one of the women gives him. He thinks he can remember her cursing at him when at the fire-tests he had slammed this one guy up against the ceiling. Eddie can still feel the bones break underneath them and the sound of a body hitting the floor. 

 

“Must have been her partner or something...” Eddie mumbles, not even aware that he speaks some of his thoughts out loud, as he tries to focus on talking to Venom, who is restlessly moving in the pit of his stomach, trying to break down the sedative. The moment they were given it, Venom had started to work on an antidote, make their body resistive against it.   

 

Eddie tries to move up and tilts his head up so he can look at where they are going. Upon seeing the doors towards the lab, Eddie and Venom both groan as one and Eddie lets his head fall back on the table. 

 

 _Another test of course!_  

 

The scientists ride him into the lab and proceed to move him into the lab table. The new guy has some trouble with undoing the bonds that strap Eddie to the stretcher.  

 

 **_Eddie._ ** 

 

 _On_ _it,_ _V._  

 

The moment the metal around Eddie’s arm loosens Eddie rip his arm out of the bond. One of the female scientists gives a panicked yell as Eddie throws himself of the stretcher. The new guy makes a grab for Eddie and Venom slams their fist right into his face. The guy come loose from the ground and flies through the room. 

 

 _That’s_ _gotta_ _hurt._   

 

Eddie winches as he tries to stand, his feet and one hand are free, but one hand is still tied to the stretcher. Venom pours out of his pores and forms a big black hand over his free hand and rips the metal bonding's from his left.  

 

Still a bit dazed by the sedative and no longer bound to stretchers or locked up in a cell Eddie stumbles around, looking for a way out. 

 

“Brock, trying to make an escape now?”  

 

Eddie’s eyes grow big and slowly he turns around facing Stark who is standing on the other side of the room, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. 

 

Eddie feels Venom, howl with anger and rage flows through their veins. 

 

“Stark.” Eddie growls with Venom’s voice, eye turning white and face twisting into a snarl. Eddie’s eyes fly through the room looking for the weapon, which Stark had tested on them earlier. 

 

“Don’t go doing stupid things, Brock.” Stark threatens, slowly walking towards them. 

 

 _Starks hands are free... Where is the gun?_  

 

Eddie feels himself panicking and his breath is coming out in gasps, then the door behind Stark opens.  

 

 **_Bruce!_ ** 

 

 **“** Bruce! Please! Just let us go!” Eddie yells, feeling tears well up in his eyes as hope runs through his body, Venom tries to form around him, but the sedative is making it hard to form around Eddie. 

 

“Bruce? Bruce!” Stark now yells to, turning around at Bruce who looks startled and fear showing on his face. “Since when did Brock start calling you Bruce?” Starks eyes narrow on Bruce and he advances on the poor man. 

 

 _Oh shit...._  

 

“Tony I... I can explain!” Bruce stammers and holds up his hands in defense, taking a step backwards from Stark, who is gritting his teeth. 

 

“So, you have been making buddies with Brock hah!? Am I the only one who sees that there are things at stake here!?” Stark now screams at Bruce, waving his hands through the room in a violent manner. “Our lives are at stake here Bruce! Natasha’s and let’s not forget Peter’s!” Stark ends, heaving in deep breaths, trying to calm himself but anger is still boiling through his veins. 

 

“Peter is in danger?” Eddie whispers, wrapping his arms around himself, shivering despite not really feeling cold. Venom forms over his shoulder, a concerned look on his little black face. 

 

“YES! Thanks to you, asshole!” Stark howlers and turns towards Eddie, in a few giant steps Stark is now right in Eddie’s face, yelling and spitting insults and explaining why they do these tests. 

 

And all Eddie can do is stare at Starks face, he got big dark bags around his eyes and his skin is pale. His hair is unkept and sweat is dripping down his face.  

 

 _Stark looks a mess.... Why?_  

 

Then Stark starts yelling about evil SHIELD head members and tests and the gun and how the head members threatened their friends and Peter! And everything becomes clear. 

 

As Stark finally finished his rant against Eddie, he turns back towards Bruce and starts pointing at the man. 

 

“Now you are going to tell me whatever littler plan you and Brock threw together to get him out or so help me God I will finish you.” Stark ends his tirade, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.  

 

Starks hands are shaking and Eddie’s not very sure if it is with anger or with fear. 

 

 _God V! They are being threatened! Wait does Peter even know these head members want him and the other Avengers dead? What is going on?_  

 

Eddie starts to hyperventilate as his thoughts turn dark and Venom starts rubbing his little head against Eddie’s cheek, purring to calm Eddie down again. 

 

 **“Eddie...”**  

 

Stark turns back towards them, hearing Venom speak for the first time, the surprise on his face clear as day, sweat is rolling down his face and anger in his eyes. Sure, he had heard Venom scream and growl, but never form a singular sentence... 

 

“Please Tony, don’t be angry at Brock. We made no such plan, please Tony. I only promised him to get him brains. In fact, it was not I who promised Brock he would break him out.” Bruce tries to calm Tony down, but all of them hear the slip up and the panic on Bruce face grows.  

 

“Oh?” Starks head snaps right back to Banner, eyes narrowing. “And who is the one who promised Brock he would break him free? Was it Cap?! Clint? I'm sure as hell it was not Vision!” Stark spits at Bruce, who flinches in fear and sadness creeps on Bruce’s face. 

 

 **“It was Peter.”**  

 

Venom’s voice sounds loud in the now quiet room, the only sound next to his is the beeping of the machines and the soft grunting of the new guy, who Venom had slammed right up into the ceiling. The other scientists stand on the very edges of the room, quiet, trying to not attract Venom’s attention.  

 

Starks face goes from anger to surprise, as if the guy cannot believe his ears. 

 

“Peter?” Stark whispers and at that moment Eddie feels sorry for the man, for the disbelieve on the man’s face grows with the second.  

 

Both him and Venom too feel very protective over the kid. Eddie had almost thrown a fit of rage when the kid had told him he was on patrols without Stark supervising. And now they have endangered Peter again and Stark resent them for it. 

 

 _SHIT! We got the kid in danger again! We almost kill him and now others are threatening him!_  

 

 **_Eddie...._ ** 

 

 _No V. We are going to fix this._  

 

Eddie steels himself for what he is going to say next, his fist clenched at his sides. 

 

Stark is still staring at the ground, probably trying to wrap his head around the fact that Peter and Eddie are friends and Peter promising them to break them free. Even though Eddie and Venom had hurt the kid! 

 

Eddie takes a deep breath and grits his teeth; he closes his eyes for a second and then opens them. Taking a slow step towards Stark, drawing his attention towards them. 

 

“Venom and I agree too your last test. We will not hurt nor struggle against you and let you do as you wish.” Eddie breaths out, feeling his muscles tighten in fear for this last experiment, but his, no their mind is set. They will save Peter, even if it is the last thing they do.  

 

 **_Don’t_ ** **_wanna_ ** **_hurt the_ ** **_spiderkid_ ** **_again, Eddie..._ ** 

 

 _Never again V..._  

 

“You, what-” Stark starts but is cut off by Bruce who yells and looks at them startled. 

 

“Eddie no! You don’t even know what kind of test the SHIELD head members have conjured up for you!”  

 

 **“We will survive.”**  

 

Venom’s heavy voice silences the room once more. Stark is looking at them now, there is still some disbelieve shining in his eyes. 

 

“We will do this. For Peter.” Eddie speaks, his voice clear from fear or insecurity, but his body and mind a screaming at him. 

 

“Eddie you, -” Bruce starts but is cut off by Stark this time. 

 

“Go lay on the table.” Starks voice is cold and his face is void from any emotions. 

 

With Venom’s help Eddie forces his body into moving and walks towards the metal table. They touch the cold surface before they lay down upon it. 

 

Stark mentions towards two of the scientists, who had kept themselves carefully still, to tie them down. Eddie forces his arms and legs to still and let the scientists do their job, he did not know what the last test was and he probably needed those restrains to keep true to his word. 

 

 **Our word**  

 

Venom’s voice was strong and hearing it made Eddie calm down. He tried to relax into the table, but the cold made that difficult. Eddie turned his head towards Stark and Bruce who had now approached him and where standing next to him. 

 

“Know Brock, that I never wanted to do this and that you have volunteered for this yourself.”  

 

Stark spoke, and Eddie knew that the man tried to distance himself from whatever he was now going to do to them.  

 

“I know.” Eddie said quietly, looking Stark right in the eyes. Seeing the fear hiding in them, Eddie felt them smile. Just a little quirk of the corner of their mouth, but a smile none less, he then turned back to stare at the ceiling above him, preparing himself for what was to come. 

 

Out of the corner of his view, Eddie spotted Bruce giving something to Stark, he turned his head towards it and stilled. 

 

Stark ordered the scientists to dose Eddie with another 6 shots of sedative and looked back at Eddie, his face grim. Stark took a deep breath and then started the last test. 

 

Eddie first tried to keep still and silent, but the end had them bawling their eyes out and screaming ‘till their voice was raw and gone. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> If you spotted an error please message me!


	20. Pathology of Colours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pathology of Colours
> 
> I know the colour rose, and it is lovely,  
> but not when it ripens in a tumour;  
> and healing greens, leaves and grass, so springlike,  
> in limbs that fester are not springlike.
> 
> I have seen red-blue tinged with hirsute mauve  
> in the plum-skin face of a suicide.  
> I have seen white, china white almost, stare  
> from behaind the smashed windscreen of a car.
> 
> And the criminal, multi-coloured flash  
> of an H-bomb is no more beautiful  
> than an autopsy when the belly’s opened -  
> to show cathedral windows never opened.
> 
> So in the simple blessing of a rainbow,  
> in the bevelled edge of a sunlit mirror,  
> I have seen, visible, Death’s artifact  
> like a soldier’s ribbon on a tunic tacked.
> 
> \- Dannie Abse

** SHIELD lounge  **

* * *

 

“Mister Rogers!” 

 

Steve looks up from his newspaper, if Tony were here, he would probably already make a joke about him reading the thing.  Steve  sighs wishfully, Fury kept Tony and Bruce away from them and he was wondering why? It probably had something to do with the black alien, what had Bruce called it... a symbiote? It was the thing that had attacked Peter, but Peter had also known the man, a friend if 

 

Steve remembered it right.

 

Steve shakes his head and looks up at the kid.

 

“Peter.” Steve smiles  at Peter  who is now walking towards them. “It’s good to see you again kid.”

 

“You too Mister Rogers.” 

 

Peter  says as he  lets himself fall down into the chair opposite of  Steve .

 

Steve can feel the honesty coming from the words. He knows the kid has gone through a rough time and seen things most kids his age doesn’t see. He feels himself smile at the kid;  _ whose eyes still shine _ ; he can’t help but feeling paternal towards him, remembering  Tony telling him about the kid. Lost his parents at an early age, living with his aunt and then ending up with superpowers by some crazy accident. And now, looking at Peter, Steve noticed that the kid looked a little down.

 

“You fought pretty good last time.” It came out of nowhere, but Steve had felt the need to say it and he was glad that he had done it, because the moment he had said them, the kid started to beam again.

 

“Oh.... Thank  you, mister Rogers !” 

 

Steve smiled at the beaming kid, who was now sitting up straight and had stopped fidgeting.

 

“Yeah, you were a great help and did a real good job of rescuing those civilians.” Steve almost boosted, feeling proud of the kid. 

 

“But what can I do for you, Peter?” Steve asks, putting his paper away. 

 

“Well I had a..., uhm a very serious question I have to ask you...” 

 

Peter trailed of, and Steve could hear how nervous the kid was and almost had to laugh at how much Peter was  fidgeting  in his seat. 

 

“Oh, serious questions, I’m in.” 

 

A new voice joins the conversation as Natasha sits down into the couch that is standing next to the chairs. 

 

“Miss Romanov!” 

 

Peter let’s out, surprise in his voice and blushing madly.

 

“Call me Natasha, Peter. We are colleges after all.” Natasha says, a friendly smile on her face as she sets down her glass on the table that is seated in between the chairs and couch. 

 

“Now I’m curious, what where you going to ask our grandpa?” Natasha jokes and Steve let’s out a happy scoff.

 

“I’m not that old!” Steve tries to defend himself, but gives up half way, when he catches the way Natasha looks at him.

 

“ Uggh , fine.” Steve grumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Well it’s... you see...  Uhmmm , I promised.”

 

Peter starts, but neither Steve or Natasha can make any heads or tails out of Peter mumbling and stumbling over his words, Peter looks a kind of defeated back up at them.

 

“You can do it kiddo, just tell us how you’re feeling. Otherwise we can’t help  ya , now can we?” 

 

Again,  a new voice joined them and Peter turned back around in his chair to see Clint standing behind him, a smile resting on his face.

 

“I noticed how nervous you looked and decided to hop by, you know?”

 

Clint said as he sat down next to Natasha on the couch, Natasha smiled back up at Clint and Steve too greeted the man with a smile.

 

“I well... I need some help. I made someone a promise and I  wanna  keep it.” 

 

Peter finally said, his eyes glancing up and down at them and back towards his shoes.

 

“Well why didn’t you say so sooner?” Clint replied with a smile on his face and leaned back into the couch.

 

“Peter, we may be colleges but we are also family.” 

 

Natasha smiled encouraging and Clint gave her a playful shove.

 

“Yes, it’s just as Nath says! You can call me uncle Clint, aunt Natasha and grandpa Steve!” Clint shouted out  enthusiastic , a sly grin on  his face and winking at Steve.

 

Steve sat up straighter to give Clint a smart reply but stopped as all three of them looked over at Peter who was now hunched over laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. 

 

They looked at each other with the same thought:  _ mission accomplished. _

 

After a little while Peter sat up again, his laugh quieting down and gasping for breath and whipping the tears from his eyes.

 

“Thank you... I really needed that.” Peter admitted quietly, looking at the people in front of him.

 

“Now who is this special person too which you made an important promise?” 

 

Steve asked, curiosity picked as he now understood how important this was for Peter. He heard the other shift as they too wanted to know the answer.

 

Peter looked startled seeing how interested they were, but seemed to push through it.

 

“I need your help freeing Eddie.”

 

Steve was quiet, his eyes shot towards Natasha and Clint, trying to see how they reacted towards these words. Natasha’s and Clint’s face were kept carefully blank.

 

Then Natasha hunched forward a little,  a concerned look on her face,  trying to look Peter in the eye and then said quiet and carefully,  “Peter, you know he was the one who hurt you right?”

 

“Yes, I know! Mister Stark keeps telling me that, but you don’t know him!” Peter shot up, out of his chair and shouted at them, only to stop suddenly, as if just realizing what he had just done. 

 

Peter sat down quickly and mumbled an apology while blushing again.

 

“It’s all right kid, now tell us who actually is Eddie Brock?” Clint tried, playfully kicking the kid’s shoe, trying to light him up again.  “Because from where I see it, you know the guy awfully good don’t you?”

 

“ Uhhhm ! Well yes, he and I have been friends for little half a year, now... We met in June, even celebrated Christmas together and he came to visit my school project... Got into a fight with Mister Stark...” Peter starts  rambling , but trails of at the end.

 

“A fight with Stark?” Natasha questions, her right eyebrow raised high and a curious smile around her lips.

 

“Woah! No not a real fist fight, more like a verbal one? Eddie isn’t a real fan of Mister Stark or so he says and well it ended with Mister Stark financing several science projects and Eddie writing about it in the newspaper, making the front page! It was actually pretty cool...” Peter mumbles, flushing and playing with his hands, but he too has a smile around his lips.

 

“AH MAN! Wish I could have seen that!” Clint exclaims, leaning back into the cough and throwing his arms wide over the back of the couch.

 

Steve to grins into his fist, “Well that’s Tony for you.” 

 

“Anyway, Eddie is a real good guy! He used to be an investigator journalist, but well... he quit his job in San Francisco and moved to New York... Uhm I don’t really know the reason, but Eddie was pretty upset at first. The first time I met him, I thought he was  gonna  jump, you know.”

 

At this Steve raises his eyebrows, worry lines his face and well his thoughts mill around, he sat forward a little to concentrate a little more on  Peter’s  story.

 

“After that, Eddie actually saved me, I was wounded after a fight. Please don’t tell Mister Stark!”

 

Peter suddenly shouts, panic on his face at what he just told them.

 

“Relax Peter, we won’t. From what I understand that was a while ago wasn’t it?” Steve asks, cocking his head a little.

 

“Yes! A while ago! Anyway, Eddie saved me, let me crash at his place, even took care of my wounds, lent me some clothes the day after and then got me at school on time! He has a really awesome motorcycle and well we just started to hang out together, Eddie even wanted to interview me! And he is pretty smart too, knows a lot about all kind of things, even though he doesn’t always show it. He also cares a lot, because he made me promise to always call him when I need someone.” 

 

At this the others a look surprised at each other.

 

“What do you mean Peter?” Natasha asks, a concerned look on her face.

 

“Oh...  uhhh ... Well I told Eddie that I couldn’t contact Mister Stark at all and that I... well... I give Happy my updates of the day. I call his number, leave a voicemail and then go home after patrol. And Eddie didn’t like that for some reason...” 

 

Peter answers, his face lit with confusion, but then goes on.

 

“Anyway, even my Aunt May really likes him! She even gave him food and as December neared, she and I were discussing what to do for Christmas and she wanted to invite him.” 

 

At this Peter’s face  lights,  up and a smile graces his face, but it falls quickly.

 

“Then at the beginning of December, well you all know, I was attacked by that black slime monster... And got injured pretty serious.”

 

“Oh, I remember Tony, was pretty upset about it... didn’t he ground you too?” Clint questions Peter, shuffling a little on the couch, because the happy mood was slowly starting to disappear the moment, they breached this subject.

 

“Yeah that’s right.... Well after I was attacked, I tried to call Eddie on his cellphone, but he didn’t pick up at the time. It was pretty late, so I completely understood, but Eddie felt really guilty. At the time I thought it was because he told me to always call him when I needed him, but now I know the real reason was because he was the black monster...” 

 

Peter trails of and the others look concerned at each, looks are exchanged before Peter picks up his story.

 

“I broke into Eddie’s cell three days ago.” 

 

Peter reveals and he quickly looks up to see their reactions.

 

“What?!” 

 

Clint almost screams and sit up straight.

 

“I needed to talk to him!” Peter shouts back just as hard, trying to defend himself.

 

“You broke in?! Really?” Clint says with a smile.

 

Peter, now a little unsure of what to say, seeing the big smile on Clint’s face just nods.

 

“That’s awesome kid! Tell me how you did it!” 

 

Steve is lost in his own thoughts as Peter tells Clint how he broke into the cell of SHIELD, but couldn’t get Eddie out.  _ Peter clearly sees Eddie as family, they even wanted him over for Christmas. But Brock also hurt Peter, but Peter clearly doesn’t see it that way... why? _

 

“Peter.” Steve says quiet but firm and both Peter and Clint stop talking and all three Avengers now look at Steve.

 

“What did Eddie Brock say to you, after you found out you couldn’t break him out.”

 

Peter looks Steve in the eye and Steve knows the kids, just that a kid. But the look Peter gave him told a whole other story.

 

“Venom and Eddie apologized, they also told me the reason why they attacked. Eddie was in a serious critical condition and Venom needed some kind of chemical to get Eddie better and I interrupted them. They were just trying to survive.”

 

“Even thought, they hurt you Peter, something they really shouldn’t have done.” Natasha interrupts, staring Peter right in the eye.

 

“They know, they apologized and I forgive them.”

 

Kid got too much heart... Steve sighs and looks down, feeling Peter’s eyes trained on him, almost boring a hole right through him, as the boy waits for an answer.

 

“I understand your reasoning Peter, but I think it’s better that we all talk with Tony, Bruce and Fury first. After all, Eddie Brock is SHIELDS prisoner and,-”

 

“ But!- ” 

 

“And! I know this is hard to hear Peter, believe me, I know what you are going through. When SHIELD arrested Bucky I too wanted to talk to him, to understand. And you have seen what kind of mess that got us into, so first we talk to them then we can figure things out. Okay?” 

 

Steve smiles at the kid, trying to encourage him and begging him to understand his reasoning.

 

Peter’s smile is gone, the kid is sulking in his chair but even thoug h t all that, he nods once.

 

“Allright, let’s find those three!” Clint cheers, trying to bring back the happy mood, while clapping in his hands once. 

 

Natasha smiles at him as she stands up from the couch, “I believe, that I know where we can find Banner.”

** Location unknown **

* * *

 

The image on the screen is grainy and flickers once in a while, because of the live-stream. The room is quiet as everyone watches the last test proceed. The only sound heard is Brock grunting, disformed through the speakers as the man grits his teeth. A new sound joins the grunting as Stark start the automatic surgical saw, the high-pitched screeching of the thing, grinds on everyone's nerves. Banner’s voice is clearer heard, thanks to the microphone he is carrying, thought the voice shakes and the man stumbles over his words. The screen shows Stark nodding at Banner and the man tells the watchers that the last test will now be carried out, time reading 16:23 PM and starting the procedure. 

 

Stark walks up to Brock, bound, lying on the metal table, both men’s face clear from any emotion, but for their eyes. The trained eye may have caught the unspoken, slowly, quiet mouthed apology Stark gives Brock. Then Stark pushes the surgical saw down, down into Brock’s arm.  

 

The speakers  blow  up and for a while there is just screen and no sound, but static. 

 

Images show Stark sawing through the arm  and Brock’s body convulsing. Brock’s screams join the earie sound of the surgical saw as Stark pushes it down and down. O nce  Stark’s  through ,  the assisting scientists flock around  him . But the damage is clear ,  as for a second the white of bone is shown and Brocks severed arm leaves the  scree n. A n assisting SHIELD medical doctor steps into Starks place and starts binding Brocks arm to stop the blood loss, but it is clear that a lot of blood is spilled already. Stark has difficulties to remain standing and not slipping in the blood that has now pooled around the table on the ground.

 

Then the waiting starts, on screen the assisting scientists start cleaning up the blood, others clean the equipment. Stark leaves the screen but Banner is clear in view as he paints the floor green, spilling all of his stomach contents into the fresh cleaned floor.

 

A new group of scientists enter the screen, shown, carrying several buckets of dubious content. Three of the men undo the bounds and two women help Brock upright. The medical doctor leaves after Brocks is set up with an infusion and a tight tied up arm. Brock is as white as a ghost and has trouble remaining up right. One of the women offers Brock a bucket and in a blink of an eye, half of Brocks uninjured body is indulged in a black mass and digs right into the bucket.

 

It takes up to 5 hours and 35 buckets for the arm to grow back. In the first hours, the screen shows Brock half covered by the symbiote, then as time goes on the slime slowly disappears to reform only over and around the sawed-off stub. After 4 hours Brock is mostly sitting up right, still clutching a bucket, color had returned to his face, but his eyes remained a sickening white. Slowly, so slowly the stub grew inch by inch, and at the end most of Brocks arm had been renegaded back. The whole time Banner had scanned the results, while Stark just stood on the edge of the screen, face solemn and body stoic.

 

Then after 5 and a half hours, Brock put the bucket down and moved his new arm up towards the camera. Banner scanned the arm and summed up all kinds of medical details and Stark asked whether or not the arm was good as new, to which Banner only nodded. Banner noted some things down and Stark left the screen while mumbling about symbiotes and their unbelievable healing powers. Banner stood up and walked up to Brock, they exchanged some quiet words to each other, which went unheard, for Banner had taken off his microphone. Then the good doctor put his microphone on again and spoke. 

 

“We have done as you all asked, Brock agreed to work with us, for this final test. He knows about the threads you made to our teammates. Please leave us and Brock alone.” 

 

Banner seemed to take a deep breath, seeming to steady himself and to reorganized his  thoughts .

 

“I know that you all and Fury have decided to lock Eddie up in ‘Raft’. So please...”

 

Banner’s words trailed off, the look on his face unsure and unknowingly biting his lip. He then put a hand to Brock shoulder to stabilize the man, who almost fell from the table. The assisting scientists came forward to escort Brock back to his cell, but it Banner made it clear that it would be him, who brought Brock back. 

 

“Makes sure that Banner brings Brock back.”

 

One of the scientists broke away from the group and took hold of Brocks other side and nodded once to Banner, to show he meant no harm. But as soon as Banner and Brock focused on moving, the supporting scientist looked quickly towards the camera, still filming and nodded once. 

 

“In low light of the test room his earpiece isn’t even visible, how clever of you. Hmmm, so the good doctor talked with Fury, we should keep an eye on him. Transport is ready and all the necessaries to keep Brock alive in ‘Raft’ are completed.”

 

The  woman’s voice broke the silence  in  the room , the quiet click of her heels told him that she now stood behind him. 

 

And yes, now he felt her hands on the back of his chair, from out of the corner of his view he could see her painted nails. Slowly she pressed her chest against his back, her breath ghosted around his ear as she spoke.

 

"Are you satisfied with the results, my dear?” 

 

“Yes... yes I am.”

 

And Carlton Drake smiled. 

** SHIELD head quarters **

* * *

“Mister Stark!” 

 

_ Oh no... I was so close... _

 

Tony  comes to a stop and  turns around  slowly , looking at Peter who came running at him, waving with one arm.  He quickly glanced back towards the door the lead to his living quarters.

 

“Peter!” 

 

Tony laughed,  trying to hide his tiredness and distress. He looked past the kid and  then noticed the people who walked  with  Peter, nervously he wiped his clam m y hands on his pants.  He quickly looks around himself, noting the hallway still empty.

 

_ No escape  _ _ attempts _ _  then... _

 

“Tony.”

 

He felt himself grow rigid a little and swallowed with some difficulty. 

 

“Hello Steve...” 

 

Tony looked at Steve and quickly  averted his eyes . Cap looked serious and shit, he could look right through him and Steve knew that he was nervous.

 

“Hey Tony, we were actually looking for Bruce, but knowing you two, you aren’t too far apart.”

 

Clint said, a big grin on his face, already trying to lighten him up, all of the older Avengers knowing fair well that he was a mess...

 

“Yeah...” Tony snorts, quickly looks over his shoulder , still no one...  and then back at the people in front of him.

 

“ Uhhmmm  Bruce went to bed early, Fury locked us up the whole day you know...”

 

Tony tried to explain, without explaining anything. 

 

_ Better _ _  that they don’t know anything at all. _

 

“Yes, we’ve noticed.”

 

Steve says curtly and it almost sets him off, feeling himself grow angry, he quickly swept a hand through his already messy hair and then pinched his nose.

 

“Well, we’re finally done, Fury and those SHIELD head members got what they wanted and now we’re done.”

 

“Wait what do you mean by that?” 

 

Peter asked quietly, confusion on his face, but Natasha was quicker.

 

“You haven’t killed  them,  have you?”

 

_ THEM? _ _!? _

 

_ And w _ _ ho does this woman think I am? A murderer! _

 

_ No.... but you did help them torture Brock. _

 

_ Shit.... _

 

“NO!”  Tony exclaims rather loudly, shocking them all and Peter takes a small step back, concern clear on his face, now that he too picked up that mister Stark looked rather pale.

 

“No... Fury and the members decided that Brock is a to o  big  of a  lability and it is decided that he will be placed in ‘Raft’.”

 

“NO!!!” 

 

Peter yelled and then took a sharp breath, shock clear on his face as he slowly looked down.

 

“Yes... ” Taking a deep breath he broke the bad news...

 

“I’m  sorry Peter, but the transport airplane just left...”

 

Tony says quietly, feeling ashamed, while anger burns in his chest. 

 

_ We shouldn’t have been forced to do this...  _

 

_ The kid knows next to nothing of what you’ve done! _

 

_ Shut it! _

 

As Tony battled with his emotions and thoughts, the concerned looks of his college’s went unnoticed.

 

“But.... I promised him...”

 

Peter’s whispered voice, brings him back into the present.

 

“I... I know kiddo... But Brock agreed with all of this, you know?”

 

Tony tried to keep his tone light and void of any emotion.

 

“you knew?” 

 

Peter asked quietly, confused and staring up at him.

 

“Yes...  uhmm ... Bruce found out about your little talk with Brock and went to talk with Eddie too...” 

 

Tony tried to explain, but heard the whispered, “So it’s Eddie now instead of Brock?”, Natasha exchanged with Clint, while shooting him a look that said ‘We need to talk, even though I know you don’t want to.’. 

 

“Mister Banner knows!” 

 

Peter shouts, surprise on his face, but catches himself quickly as he asks, “But if he knows, then why did Eddie agree with being locked up?!” 

 

And there it is... the most dreaded question... the only thing Tony couldn’t tell the kid... Tony squeezes his eyes shut, while taking a deep breath.

 

“Because of your safety, Peter.”

 

There he had done it...  No going back now...

 

“What....?” 

 

Peter’s voice is so tiny and unsure. Not understanding the situation at all. 

 

Steve takes a step forward and lays his hand on Peter shoulder.

 

“There is more behind this, isn't there, Tony?”

 

“Yes there is....”

 

The voice makes everyone turn around and look at Bruce. 

 

Tony feels himself let out a breath of relief. 

 

_ Bruce is here, he will help me explain everything to the others... _

 

_ Please Peter... don’t hate me... _

 

** Several hours later **

* * *

 

“So, please... I’m begging you all to understand.”

 

Bruce begs the others, his eyes are pleading, begging them to understand this. 

 

_ B _ _ ecause this, what he and Tony had done... It was bad, really bad. _

 

_ But maybe.... maybe they could be forgiven. _

 

Bruce then kept silence, studying his teammates from the corner of his eyes. Tony who was seated next to him hadn’t said anything at all during the whole talk. Bruce let out a deep sigh thinking back just a few hours earlier when he had decided to leave his room to talk to Tony. There he had found Tony cornered by a small group of Avengers. Bruce had walked up to them and promised them to explain everything. But not in the hallway, so the group had gone to the shared lounge in the SHIELD building.

 

There the others were having a drink and talked with each other. Wanda and Vision had made themselves comfortable on the couch, while Sam and  Rhodey  were enjoying a well-deserved drink. They looked up as the other came in.

 

“Tony! Haven’t seen you in ages man!” 

 

Rhodey  called out, waving and holding up his glass, pointing at it. Asking without asking, if Tony wanted one too.

 

“What did Fury make you guys do? You were gone for almost a month?” Sam asks, curious to why and where those two had disappeared of to, while noticing that both Tony and Banner didn’t look quite well.

 

Tony just shook his head while the rest of the group walked towards the couches.

 

“If you two could join us please? Tony and Bruce are going to explain a few things.”

 

Steve asks the two men, who shoot each other a confused and surprised look, before they stand up and joint the others.

 

“Well, if that doesn’t sound ominous?” Sam mumbles, curiosity in his voice, as he settles next to Rhodey on the couch.

 

Tony and Bruce take the chairs, while Steve takes the other one. Natasha and Clint join, Wanda and Vision on the left couch, while  Rhodey  and Sam sit down next to Peter.

 

“Take it away then.”

 

Rhodey  jokes, feeling the heavy mood in the air and trying to light it up a little. Especial ly the kid, who looks way to gloomy for his age, who is now staring dagger at Tony, by the way.

 

“I promised him Mister Stark! How can I keep my promise if they dragged him away to RAFT!”

 

The kid shouts out, his fists are clenched at his sides, as he stops staring at Tony, to look down at his shoes, looking more than a little  desperate . 

 

“Allright... I feel like I’m missing some bits and pieces.” 

 

Sam questions, looking at the older Avengers around him. Vision and Wanda look just as confused as  Rhodey  and him. 

 

Then Bruce sits up straighter, takes a deep breath and says, “Well it all started once we fought the green robot and ended up taking both the criminal and Eddie Brock prisoner, who was responsible for the murder slaughter in the warehouse and hurting Peter.”

 

And Bruce was off, he told them about imprisoning Brock, figuring out that the tranquilizers he had designed for the big green guy also worked on the black monster man. How both Tony and Bruce had been approached by Fury, due to the requirements from the head SHIELD members 

 

Bruce left the more specific details out of his story, but some of the older Avengers could read in between the lines and Natasha’s and Steve’s face turned blank. Tony didn’t say anything when Bruce told them about the tests and the death threat's hanging above the others heads, he kept biting his nail and fidgeting with his hands. 

 

At last Bruce told them about Peter’s visit, how he found out that Brock and Venom needed phenethylamine and Peter’s promise to the both of them. Then the head members decided that it still wasn’t enough and that there had to be one more test. How Eddie and Venom had agreed to work with them after hearing the death threats that were made, especially towards Peter.  That just a few hours ago they had finished the last test and had send Eddie and Venom off, to be imprisoned in RAFT.

 

“ So, p lease... I’m begging you all to understand.”

 

Bruce begs the others, his eyes are pleading, begging them to understand this. 

 

_ B _ _ ecause this, what he and Tony had done... It was bad, really bad. _

 

_ But maybe.... maybe they could be forgiven. _

 

The room stays quiet, as the silence dragged on the sun slowly set and painted the room in warm colors. The walls turned a soft red, then rose and bordering on orange. 

 

 

“Mister Stark, Mister Banner.”

 

Both men addressed looked up, or rather Tony’s head shot up so fast, Natasha feared he’d gotten himself a  whiplash .

 

“Peter...?” 

 

Tony whispered back, quietly, fear shone in his eyes and the man quickly hid his  trembling  hands in his lap.

 

“I’m so sorry, please forgive me, I-”

 

“It’s alright.”

 

The room became quiet for a second time. The sun was now fully setting and it was really a magnificent sight, the low rays of sunlight  painted Natasha’s hair a fiery red, Steve's eyes turned a red-blue tone and giving the skin of the people gathered in the room a soft rose glow. Peter’s eyes glowed a warm  chestnut  brown, as he looked Tony in the eye.

 

“Eddie and Venom forgive you, I know it, otherwise they would never have let you do that lest  experiment . And because of that..., I forgive you too.”

 

“You understand Peter, that we cannot go after Eddie Brock. As it would break several rules in the  Sokovian  Accords.”

 

Steve broke in, quietly, but authority sounded through his voice, making the other in the room sit up straighter than they had been. 

 

The kid remained quiet, a war was being fought on his face, emotions flew on and off and the kid ended up chewing on his lip. He looked lost in his thoughts and was already thinking up a hundred ways to break into ‘RAFT’ and free Eddie, but it all seemed impossible. He knew that the other Avengers would not help him, Mister Rogers had already made that clear in the beginning.

 

“I know.” Peter replied in a soft voice, keeping his eyes down cast. But,-”

 

“It’s for your safety Peter.”

 

Bruce answered back, he then looked around and said, “For all of our safety.”

** RAFT **

* * *

 

The cell is cramped but well lit, even though the  furniture spares, only a cot on the side of the room’s wall and a toilet. The walls are an awful white that hurts the eyes when you stare at them for  too  long and one of the walls is just a big window.

 

They have been here for just a few hours, but Eddie can already feel his skin crawling with the need to get out. Venoms doesn’t help either.

 

**_ Eddie... What now? _ **

 

Eddie takes a deep breath from where he is sitting on the bed, he looks back up and through the window. Several guards have been gathering there for a while now. Most of them come and go, probably wanting a change to see the new guy, or new monster as they called him, but others stay around for a while.

 

You may think that the walls are so thick that you wouldn’t hear anything at all, but that’s a lie. Eddie can hear the guards yelling insults and jokes, but he can hear the other prisoners just as fine, or maybe that’s just thanks to Venom too.... The guy next to them can’t stop pacing nervously, above him someone is crying and another prisoner, this one a lot farther away is screaming. 

 

It sets Eddie nerves on edge, gritting his teeth, he glances up at the guards again. While his thoughts mill and mill around in his head.

 

_ We’re doing this for Peter... _

 

**_ Yessss, but what if Ssstark lied... _ **

 

_ I thought you said you knew he was telling the through!? _

 

**_ I can..., most of the time.  _ ** **_ Humansss _ ** **_  give it away easily, most of the  _ ** **_ timesss _ ** **_. Their heartbeats  _ ** **_ quicken _ ** **_  and their pupils delate. I didn’t sense anything from Stark, so  _ ** **_ yesss _ ** **_..., I assumed he was telling the truth. _ **

One of the new guards hits the glass, hard. Eddie flinches back into the present and out of his internal talk with Venom. 

 

The guard on the outside let’s out a hard laugh.

 

“Doesn’t look like much to me!”

 

So,  he does it again, this time slamming the glass with an electrical rod, one which the guards subdue the prisoners with, often those who struggle against them, but sometimes just for fun.

 

Eddie feels Venom growl inside his mind, growing restless and flowing through his veins. The high dose of tranquilizer haven worn off; Venom starts talking again.

 

**_ Eddie... What about food? I can’t hunt in here. I could probably break us out, _ **

**_ but.... _ **

**_ You don’t want that do you? _ **

Eddie knows that Venom has read his thoughts, because, what if Stark was telling the through... 

 

_ Who would be after Peter’s life? Who would hate the Avengers so much that they would threaten them? _

 

Some of the guards are still snickering at the new guard's remark and some of the braver, or the stupider? Guards are now slamming their sticks against the glass as well; others are just yelling insults. One guard makes a comment about the rules they had gotten from the SHIELD guards. 

 

“Seems like they were really afraid of this guy. Said they had to use an even bigger dose of  tranquilizer  to keep this one out of it, when they moved him. They also gave me clear instructions to not come close...”

 

“Yeah! I heard that too, hey, do you know what we have to feed him? Do you, do you?” Another guard asked excited, everyone could hear that the guy knew the answer, but wanted them to ask him for it. The others are laughing at each other, clearly amused by this whole situation.

 

“Alright, I will ask. What do we need to feed him?” One of them asks, playing bored and looking annoyed, but everyone wanted to know the answer.

 

**_ Maybe... _ **

 

**_ We are thinking wrong Eddie. _ **

 

_ What do you mean with that, V? _

 

_ “ _ BRAINS!” 

 

And the guard laughs, hunching over and clutching his stomach. Body shaking with glee while tears fall from his eyes. Some of the guards laugh with him, clapping each other on the shoulder, but others, it isn’t much, side-eye each other nervous, their laugh is a little too high. 

 

“Eh, who cares if SHIELD thinks the guy’s a monster? Who cares what that thing eats? He or it? It looks like a pussy to me.” 

 

And the guard, who first started pounding on the glass, walks forward again, rod held high,  tight , and moving it backwards to slam it against the glass.

 

**_ Maybe the one who wanted this and threatened Peter isn’t after Peter. _ **

 

_ What... _

 

_ Eddie feels Venom stir, curling, rolling and slithering through his body. It’s like he is everywhere and Eddie can’t focus, can’t concentrate on his surroundings. It’s like Venom has formed around him, form the inside out. _

 

**_ I will protect us Eddie... _ **

 

_ What are you talking about V? I thrust you, tell me!  _

 

_ Eddie feels his concern grow, the hairs on his arms stand up straight and it feels as if electricity is flowing through him. _

 

**_ Maybe they were after us. _ **

 

Then the rod hits the glass, all guards watching with leering grins on their faces, and Venom breaks lose. 

 

He forms around Eddie fully and slams them against, and then, through the glass. 

 

The guard never stood a change, one second, he was still standing there, looking up at the enormous black form in front of him, the next he is gone.

 

Guards all around start screaming, electric rods are gripped and pointed, but Venom swipes them all away in one smooth swoop.

 

As sudden as Venom’s attack started, just as quick he stops. What is left of the guards is lying on the ground, not moving at all or sitting half up, clutching their bodies, as their eyes are trained, fearfully, at the monster in front of them.

** “We are Venom.” **

** “And we are only here to protect what is  ** ** oursssss ** **.” **

** “One day we will find out who is after  ** ** usssss ** **  and we  ** ** will ** **  have revenge.” **

** “Now, we will protect ourselvessss, ssso leave and...., maybe you will live.” **

The dark voice hisses out, while the monster grins, showing every tooth it possessed, smile stretching from ear to ear as it turns back and walks slowly back into its cell.

 

There the black slime sinks, leisurely, back beneath the man’s skin. The man looks over his shoulder, grin still on his face and to this day, guards still talk about the man's eyes.

Pale... Bone... White.... and devoid of any emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end, dear readers..... FOR NOW!
> 
> As I read the story, I made some EDITS! I edited Bucky out of the fight scenes in the earlier chapters seeing as Bucky is living in Wakanda! I mostely edited him out or swapped him with Rhodey! So no major changes, but seeing as I'm going to turn this into a proper Infinity Saga, I wanted to do so correctly!
> 
> For now I'm going to write my way up to Infinity War, which will take me awhile so for now there will be no updates, but I will turn this into a series, if AO3 will work with me.
> 
> Let me know what you guy thought about the poem!
> 
> I LOVED it and wanted to bring it back into the story, but I don't really know if I really did...?
> 
> Comments and messages are awesome and if you have questions about the upcoming story please ask away!

**Author's Note:**

> So, my first fanfiction... I'm no native English speaker, so any faults are mine.  
> I also don't own any of the characters.
> 
> Any suggetions or corrections are welcome!


End file.
